OMG!! Pioneer Woman's Cheesy Garlic Bread

There comes a time when a commitment to only eat "healthy" gets blown right out of the water. That's exactly what happened when I saw "The Pioneer Woman Cook's" RSS feed for this recipe. I was hooked. I had already decided to recycle my pot roast into beef & vegetable soup, and I had leftover French bread so my decision was made. I'm going for it!

I'll share how I made the soup another day. If you love garlic bread (and it's one of my weaknesses), this is the recipe for you. Do NOT-- I repeat-- NOT use margarine, garlic powder or Miracle Whip! Go for the real stuff.

Just like Pioneer Woman's photos, I have the same cast iron skillet where I heated my butter and chopped fresh garlic:


Then I arranged my sliced french bread rolls and let all that garlic infused butter soak right up...


While the remaining rolls were soaking in the butter jacuzzi, I covered the butter soaked rolls with the spread made of Trader Joe's Lite Mexican Blend Cheese (hey, it's all I had), Mayonnaise, chopped scallions, and parmesan. I knew I had a winner, and my boy's would be very pleased:

Just look at all that butter-- are you drooling yet?

I baked those puppies for about 10 minutes and then broiled them for a minute-- maybe two, but I stayed very close to the broiler!

I served this with soup for a fast week night meal. I already know that I need to do an extra half hour of water aerobics (I'm a mermaid, at heart). I didn't care. OMG! This is a sinfully great recipe.

Are you brave enough to make this? I confess. I ate a whole piece of this bread, and I have no regrets. Well, until I hit the scale...which is, hmmmm... "away" at the moment.

Ree, at The Pioneer Woman Cooks, is my kinda gal. Her recipes are great family style meals. While I love a gourmet meal at a fine restaurant (I grew up in that business), I'll take simple down home cooking anyday-- grilled steak, baked potato and garlic bread. If you haven't visited her website, prepare to get engrossed in all that she has to offer-- recipes, love stories, her family, living on a ranch and photography. She's an amazing woman.

I did not use my macro lens for the closeup of the "big bite". All three of us were too busy moaning over how sinfully delicious this bread was-- and the soup. Just trust me. It's fantastic!

Pot Roast in a little over an hour? With pressure, you sure can!

Pot roast-- you either love it or hate it. It's kind of like meat loaf. Some people cringe at that thought of it-- until they try my superb recipe. It's amazing! (I should create, photograph and post). So, if you don't like pot roast, I hope that you'll read my post to learn why I love my pressure cooker so much. To me, it's like a braiser microwave. In a fraction of the time it takes to braise meat in the oven, for hours, you can have tender pot roast in 45 minutes.

I had errands to run, after work, so it was almost 6:00 by the time I got home. I realized I was cutting things too close in having dinner ready by our usual 6:30-7:00pm window. All three of us start our jobs pretty early in the morning, so it's lights out by 9:30pm. Plus, I try not to going to bed with a full belly. The pressure was on... What to do?

My recipe index, in my head, started flipping-- do I make Pioneer Woman's newest pasta recipe she posted? Do I defrost one of my freezer meals? Then I realized, that darned piece of chuck roast needed to be cooked... I didn't want to freeze it. Speaking of that piece of chuck roast-- when the butcher "trainee" presented me with this piece of meat I didn't know what to say! It was... well, BIG and very round! I had envisioned something a lot different, but I politely took it, though it looks nothing like the illustration in Cook's Illustrated. (He was so polite and helpful, and I'm a sucker for that. )

I had saved Kevin's (Closet Cooking) recipe for his pot roast, and then I looked the Cook's Illustrated version with my online subscription. Fuggitaboutit! I decided to play Amateur Iron Chef and just go with my gut instincts and I got my pressure cooker out of my garage pantry (how many of you folks in small living quarters have one?). I found whole carrots, some Yukon Gold potatoes that were reaching their prime, onion, garlic and some whole button mushrooms. I grabbed a bottle of red wine, that had about 1/2 cup left in it, some dried thyme (I dry it myself from my garden) and salt & pepper. I was ready to give it a go!

NOTE: My photos did not turn out to be very stellar because a) I was tired and racing the clock b) it was dark outside, and flash photography and food isn't the best combo c) my husband was standing over the pressure cooker looking like he was very anxious to eat I'm looking forward to Daylight Times so I can take better pix. Anyway...

How to Tie a Top-Blade Roast, from Cook's Illustrated

1. Slip 6-foot piece of twine under roast and tie a double knot.

2. Hold twine against meat, and loop long end under and around roast.

3. Run long end through loop.

4. Repeat procedure down length of roast.

5. Roll roast over and run twine under and around each loop.

6. Wrap twine around end of roast, flip roast, and tie to original knot.

I started cooking the meal at 6:15 and we were eating at 7:40pm.

Here's how I did it:

Grab a skillet and olive oil and heat it to be HOT; pat the meat dry and season with salt & pepper.

Sear the meat, because I want that delicious fond to add flavor to my gravy.

Remove the meat, and set into my pressure cooker-- I love that the pot is removable. It's makes so much easier.

I added a little more oil, onion, carrots, thyme and mushrooms and cooked them for about 3 minutes, then a little fresh chopped garlic or another minute. The vegetables were piled onto the seared meat.

Next, I deglazed the pan with about 1/2 cup of red wine, and then some chicken broth and beef stock (it's a Cook's Illustrated kind of thing). I didn't measure, but I'd say a total of 3 cups of stock. I added about 1/4 cup of tomato paste and poured the liquid into the pressure cooker.


I set the timer for 45 minutes and cleaned up my mess, tossed a green salad with a vinaigrette and sliced some fresh French bread.

I had a LOT of gravy that I thickened with a slurry of flour and water:


It was tender and very flavorful. The french bread was a very un-ladylike way to mop up the gravy, but it was delicious!

I don't think that there's really a need to post a recipe. I think it's pretty hard not to make a good pot roast. Tonight, I made a vegetable beef soup with the leftovers and it was even better-- especially with Pioneer Woman's Cheesy Garlic bread. I will post that tomorrow!

NOTE: After I posted this, I watched Ina Garten's show I had recorded and she was making pot roast-- almost like mine! Here's the link to her recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/barefoot-contessa/comfort-and-company/index.html

I hope that I've inspired you to consider buying a pressure cooker. The one I have, now, was recommended to me by my best friend several years ago. It's easier to us, you don't have to run cold water on the lid to release the steam...I just push a button. I steam artichokes, cook beans, braise meat and make stews and all kind of wonderful dishes.

You can find info about my specific pressure cooker model right here:

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Ribs & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

My husband and son love ribs. Me? I like them, but if given a choice, I'll take a juicy steak as my first choice. Today, I wanted to treat my boys to a special Sunday dinner. They're the two most important men in my life, and they deserve it.

I have watched Tyler Florence make this recipe-- and I am a fan of huge his "Ultimate Show". But, when I visited "My Tasty Treasures" blog, I saw that Donna had made this recipe. My decision was made-- the pot roast I was craving became pork ribs.

As directed I slow roasted the ribs in my oven. My brother has converted me from gas grilling to buying a Weber, but the rain prevented me from going that route. Besides, I wanted to try an indoor variation.

The sauce was simple to make-- I was happy to find a jar of molasses in my fridge. Whew! I don't use molasses often, but I try to keep some on hand. The only ingredients I needed to buy were the ribs and peach preserves.

The sauce rocks! Seriously, this sauce is so good-- the sweetness of the peach preserves, the brown sugar and the molasses and paprika, garlic, onion, bacon, thyme. Wow!

The ribs were "good". I wish I could say that they were falling off the bone tender. They were good, for oven cooked. But the sauce is the star of this show!

I can hardly wait for our California warmer weather to come, and longer daylight. I will be firing up the Weber and making this sauce for our ribs.

Now, for the mashed potatoes. I know, mashed potatoes are a no brainer. Are they, really?
Over the decades (yeah, I'm that old) I've used a hand mixer, a food processor (don't ever do that, or you get homemade wallpaper paste). My winning recipe for mashed potatoes is a combination of Emeril Legasse's tip (that changed everything for me), Rachael Ray and Ann Burrell (one of my new and favorite Food Network Chefs).

• Emeril taught me to return my drained potatoes into the pot, on low heat, to let all of the water evaporate. Hello! No wonder my taters were runny!
• Rachael Ray got me into using cream cheese, instead of butter. This is the way I prefer to make my mashed potatoes. It's so good!
• Ann Burrell convinced me to buy a food mill. I bought one from OXO and I've never regretted it. My potato ricer was hand held and hard to work with. It sold that at a garage sale-- though, now, I read a tip that it works well to squeeze water out of spinach. Brilliant! She also gave me the tip of throwing a few cloves of garlic into the water, while cooking the spuds. Her recipe for mashed potatoes uses way too much butter for me. But that's just me...
  

Last, but not least, my preferred choice of spud are Yukon Gold Potatoes. Red Bliss Potatoes come in second. I don't peel them, either. Tonight, I only had four medium sized Russets. They were delicious, though, I have to admit.

Once the potatoes were cooked, drained and the water was evaporated, I let the food mill do all the hard work.


Then I added about 2-3 Tablespoons of cream cheese, and let it soften from the heat of the potatoes. Last, I added the heavy cream (about 1/2 cup total). I don't usually measure. I go by texture and taste. NOTE: I season my potatoes with salted water.

Using a spatula, I stirred all of the ingredients, and I had creamy yummy potatoes. No lumps, no bumbs. The cooked garlic just mashed right into the potatoes.


My only frustration in making tonight's dinner was racing against natural light. Photographing mashed potatoes isn't easy...especially when you are serving with glass bowls and it's twilight.
The photos don't do justice to how good these were.



I served a new blend of red butter lettuce and baby spinach with a simple vinaigrette. Since I've been taking meds for my headache, I passed on a cold beer.

Boy, that beer would have taken this whole dinner over the top. But my boys were happy, and that's what mattered most.

How do you spell relief? S-U-G-A-R Bar Cookies

I am convinced that the headache that is still holding my head hostage is fueled by hormones. I say that because I had a burning desire to eat sugar-- not any kind of sugar, mind you. It had to be white cake with frosting. My only explanation for this very specific craving comes from childhood memories-- when I was a little girl, counting down the days until my birthday. I knew that my mother would splurge and buy the birthday cake of my own choosing. I always asked for white cake with white frosting and lots and LOTS of gooey, sugar coma inducing roses.

In recent year, I've pretty much OD'd on eating grocery store bakery white cake with over-the-top frosting-- and I've developed a fondness for my local bakery "Layers". I've abandoned the not-even-on-the-food-pyramid COSTCO style gooey cakes in lieu of French Buttercream, made with quality butter...100% butter. Better yet, my new birthday cake request is currently a Princess Cake with sponge cake, rasberry filling, whipped cream and almond fondant-- please and thank you.

But, yesterday, I wanted my childhood white cake with frosting.

However, I wasn't feeling up to making a white cake from scratch (I've stopped buying cake mixes years ago)-- and then I remembered a few variations of Sugar Cookie Bars I've seen on various food blogs. I settled on the one from Ice Cream Before Dinner.

I confess, that I usually do not keep Crisco in my pantry. Call me an ingredient snob, but I try to use only real butter, olive oil and canola oil in all of my recipes. I was so ready to make my own buttercream frosting, but I decided to try a recipe I saw that uses vegetable shortening.

Forgive me, "Foodie Purists", but I was hormonally driven to put the stick of softened butter and (with trembling hands) I opened up the small can of Crisco I had purchases for a pie crust recipe I've been wanting to make.
NOTE: Since I posted this frosting, I now use 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable shortening.

The cookie dough came together in a matter of minutes, thanks to my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Workhorse.

Once the baked cookie had cooled, I made the frosting. It made a LOT!


I have a Williams & Sonoma Italian off-set spatula that was given to me as a gift (and it cost a fortune), so I got a little carried away in frosting these-- as in I think I went a little crazy with the frosting.

And I still had leftover frosting-- that I will probably use to make homemade Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes... on another day. According to the recipe, the frosting stores for 8-12 weeks-- kinda scary, huh? I read the Crisco label, by the way. They swear that vegetable shortening has less saturated fat than butter. Truth be told, if I am going to eat a dessert, I am going full speed ahead. Forget trying to make baked goods less fattening. That's what exercise was invented for, right?

I will say this-- I took one bite and my craving had been totally satisfied. The frosting was sweet-- as in very, very sweet. It reminded me exactly of my childhood birthday cakes. Is that what the term "comfort food" really means?


The rest of the cookies are the sole property of my 6'3, 20 year old son, who eats continuously and does not gain weight. As for me, I need to stay away from these. They are sinfully good, and would give any kid a case of hyper sugar syndrome.

The cookie was a little too thick, in my opinion-- but I can only blame myself. Next time, I think I'd use a larger pan than a 9X13 and I'd press the dough too be much thinner. As for the frosting-- I'll stick with my butter cream recipe. This particular vanilla frosting is better destined for cupcakes-- white cupcakes. The next time that my hormones scream for white cake, that's what I'll do.

Still, if you have kids and you want to make a special treat-- brace yourself for the sugar shock. These are fast and easy to make.

Chicken & Tortilla Soup - Mexican Comfort Food

If you're a soup lover, come visit this blog!

I have been nursing a "hormonal" headache that has been haunting me for almost a week. Even Imitrex isn't doing a complete job, so I stayed home from work on Friday. When I'm laying low, I want comfort food that isn't labor intensive. My food database in my pounding head decided that my fresh batch of roasted chicken stock would be the answer-- and then I remembered... Chicken Tortilla Soup! I haven't made this recipe for over a year, and it's a meal that's delicious, made with fresh ingredients and very comforting.

I thawed four chicken breasts in water, and lined my crockpot with one of those wonderful liners (for fast and easy cleanup). I added 1/4 cup of homemade taco seasoning (why buy mixes?) to 2 cups water and set the chicken into the crockpot for four hours...

Then I caught up on 3 episodes of the TV Show "24" and surfed the internet and hoped my head would stop pounding....

Later that afternoon, I removed the chicken and shredded it...

I returned the chicken back to the liquid in my crockpot...

Prepped my ingredients...

Added them to my Dutch Oven...


Smelled the aromatic combination of onion, garlic, chile powder, cumin and cilantro (and I absolutely love cilantro)-- and started to feel better and hungry.

I rejoiced that my $11.00 roast chicken dinner had yielded 8 quarters of beautiful chicken stock, as I poured it into my soup base

Now I'm ready to add my shredded chicken (I froze 1/3 of it for future meals)





I forgot to preheat my oven so that I could bake my corn tortillas-- and use less oil. So I took a fast route and cooked cut corn tortilla strips in some canola oil, blotted well with paper towels and sprinkled with sea salt. They were so good, that I vowed never to buy a bag of corn chips again.

Garnishing this soup with tortilla strips, sour cream and fresh avocado (in this instance, my avocado was gettinga little past ripe) and some fresh lime juice is what makes this soup the Ultimate Comfort Soup for me. It makes my Mexican DNA very happy.


All by myself (my husband is out of town until Saturday evening), I enjoyed a bowl of soup and I could feel my spirits lift.

Once my husband comes home, I'm sure that I'll be completely on the mend. I'll make a salad with a cilantro lime dressing and some homemade cornbread for him to enjoy. He loves this soup!

Cranberry-Almond Granola -- Great Way to Start the Day!

 
I was scrolling through my recipe index, and I realized something-- I love to bake!  This granola recipe satisfies my need to turn on my oven, without the guilt. This recipe is one of the healthier versions that I've made, and it's really the most delicious one by far. I've shared this recipe with a few of my friends, who all rave about it.

I think what makes this granola recipe taste so good is the almond extract. I am a HUGE fan of almond-- especially marzipan. Originally, this recipe called for dried cherries. Cherries and almond are a match made in heaven. Dried cherries are harder to find and a lot more expensive. So, I've started to make this recipe with dried cranberries, that I buy in bulk at the health food store.

Seriously, I can make a batch of this granola in 20 minutes. (A printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)

DIRECTIONS

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk powder, honey, apple juice concentrate and oil. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; stir in extract. In a large bowl, combine the oats, cherries and almonds. Drizzle with sugar mixture and mix well.

Spread in a thin layer in two 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool completely. Serve with yogurt if desired. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 quarts.

A word of caution, if you make this-- the granola will burn if you don't pay close attention. I have Silpat (silicone) mats that fit on my baking sheets. Or, I recommend that you use parchment paper.

You'll be glad that you did. I rotate the sheets, halfway through baking. Depending on your oven, the granola should be finished at 15 minutes, but watch it closely. The danger is thinking that you need to leave it in the oven until it looks golden brown. Do not get tricked into this! I've burned a batch of this before, and doesn't taste good at all. The brown sugar will harden and your granola will turn out perfectly. Trust me.

My husband likes to eat this with soy milk. My son likes it with 2% milk...me? I still say that it's delicious with non-fat vanilla yogurt. It's good sprinkled on ice cream, or eaten by the handful-- you decide!

German Pancakes - Memories on a plate

My blog has a new feature! Scroll down to the bottom of this posting for a printable version of this recipe!

A few days ago, my son reminded me how much he misses his grandmother, and how he associates German "pfannkuchen" (pancakes) with fond memories of her. I realized I hadn't made these in a very long time-- they are so basic and simple, yet they are truly very "comforting".

My Mother "Gretl" and her Mother (my Grandmother), photographed by me in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria--both have passed on , but their love of cooking is now in my hands

My mother, who was born and raised in Southern Germany (Bavaria) served these pancakes to her three kids. Sometimes, my mother would chop the cooked pancakes into tiny bite sized pies-- right into the pan. This is called "schmarn"-- loosely translated "junk", but it when used in Bavarian it translates into "nonsense". We loved pouring pancakes syrup all over "schmarn". Overall, the pancakes, folded in half and filled with strawberry jam is our very favorite.

I've developed my own version of rolling the pancakes, more like a crepe. Sometimes, I like to add fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar. This morning, I used the rest of the
lemon curd that I had made . Wow! Happy memories. I thought I'd share a few of mine with all of you:

My Great Grandmother, who owned a hotel-restaurant, whose soup tureen I still use

My Great Grandparents Wedding Photo circa1903

My Grandmother "Oma" at the age of 17. Love her "dirndl"!

My Grandparents Wedding Photo, 1923

I hope that you give these a try. My mother would have been pleased to know that you did!