Easy (Please No Peasy) Shepherd’s Pie

I have a shameful confession. I hate peas. No. Really. I hate them. Was I frightened by a pea as a child? Did peas steal my lunch money in grade school? Did I have a bad pea dating experience? It’s a mystery, but I have never, ever liked peas. This from a person who never really understood the concept of a “picky eater.”

My grammy knew of my pea antipathy and indulged my vegetable peculiarty. Her renown Shepherd’s Pie recipe included peas and lots of them, unless I was visiting. Then it became magically and deliciously pea-free. Her Shepherd’s Pie was comfort food that to this day, can make a bad day better and turn a frown upside down. It’s a delightfully homespun preparation that takes me back to an easier time. And now it is one of my family’s favorites too.

The magic of Shepherd’s Pie is the marriage of fragrant meat, mixed with veggies (really, any veggies) and topped with a fluffy cloud of mashed potatoes. I found that incorporating cheddar cheese into the spuds as you mash them, takes this dish from heavenly to downright divine.

So if, like most people, you are a fan of the pea, you should definitely include them in your dish. It’s true, just about any veggies work well, so go crazy and throw them in.

Easy (No Peasy) Shepherd’s Pie

2 lbs. potatoes for mashing (I mashed mine with Cabot butter, a couple of dollops of Cabot sour cream, chicken broth, and about a cup of Cabot Horseradish Cheddar)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground meat (I used lamb & bison here, though any ground meat, including chicken or turkey, will do)

1 medium onion, diced

Veggies of your choice (I used mushrooms, green beans & carrots from my local farmers market, but throw in peas if you must)

1/2 cup beef broth

salt, pepper, season to taste (my secret kitchen weapon these days is Borsari Seasoning. It has sea salt, pepper, rosemary and other spices and use it all the time.)

1. Peel and cut potatoes, boil until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.

2. While the potatoes boil, brown the ground meat in a skillet then set aside. Since I used lamb there was some grease. I poured most of it off and left a little in the pan to cook the onions. If you use very low fat meat, add a little olive oil to the pan to cook the onions. When the onions are soft and translucent, add other veggies according to size and cooking time. I like the veggies in my pie to be soft, so I let them hang out over a medium low heat for a while.

3. When the veggies are ready, add the cooked meat and the beef broth, mix it all up and season to taste. Let simmer while you mash the potatoes.

4. Drain the potatoes. If you’re adding cheese, put it in first while the potatoes are still hot, then add a bit of butter and sour cream to get things started. Add broth, milk or even cream if you’re so inclined and mash to desired consistency. My family likes a bit of lump to their mashed potatoes.

5. Put the beef mixture in a large casserole, and top with a nice, thick layer of potatoes. If you want to get really fancy, you can put the potatoes in a pastry bag and make pretty potato peaks that will brown up nicely as the Shepherd’s Pie cooks.

6. Bake in a 375º oven until the potatoes start to get brown on those peaks, about 30 minutes.

7. Graciously accept your family’s undying gratitude for this delicious dish.

Let the rejoicing commence throughout the land. I have a new camera! So this post isn’t as much about the food as it is about my first tentative steps using a big-girl camera, a new Canon EOS D60. For years I’ve had camera envy. I’ve followed blogs whose photographs inspired me to cook - and eventually photograph - better and more creatively, blogs like Creative Culinary, The Professional Palate, The Pioneer Woman, and the amazing food blogger/photographers at Gojee. And so many others.

So I took the plunge, knowing that the learning curve would be steep and treacherous and the technology daunting. Today’s post is my very first foray into the world of DSLR photography.

As with many things I cook, this offering makes use of the food I had on hand and my desire to use it while it was at its freshest. This morning, a friend brought me beets straight from his garden. I am a huge fan of the humble beet and it’s earthy, rich flavor. I am also a fan of the health benefits of this red, red root. The same goes for sweet potatoes, which are a staple in my kitchen.

This preparation couldn’t be simpler, but it makes a delicious, healthy side dish or a satisfying main course for a vegetarian meal. Though you can make this with as few or as many vegetables as you want, I always make extra. The leftovers are amazing.

Start by cutting the greens from the beets, and washing and draining them both. Save the beet greens for later. Scrub the beet and sweets and cut both ends. Cut the top from a large head of garlic so all the cloves are exposed.

Put them all in a casserole dish, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Let them hang out in a 400º oven until the beets are fork tender,  the sweets are creamy soft, and the garlic is golden brown and fragrant.

While the veggies roast away in their bright red juices, prepare the beet greens by removing the tough red spine. (I put them into my brand new counter top composting bucket. Isn’t it adorable?) Wash the remaining leaves thoroughly - they can be gritty - and give them a large chop.

When the veggies have finished cooking, move them from the casserole to a plate to let them cool a bit. Pour the oil - now brilliantly colored from the beets - into a saute pan and heat. Cook the beet greens for about 3 - 5 minutes, until the turn dark green and tender. I add a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar for extra flavor.

While they’re still warm, peel the skin from the beets. I like to leave the skin on the sweet potatoes, but that a personal call. The skins slip easily off both. Put some crusty bread into the oven for a few minutes, and while it is hot spread a clove of roasted garlic on each piece.

Serve the vegetables on a warm bed of greens with a hunk of garlic swathed bread.

As you can tell from these first pictures, I still have a lot to learn about my new camera, but I am already in love with the possibilities it represents.

Last night as the moon was rising, I was finally able to make a shot I’ve been longing to take over the years, but could never capture with my point and shoot camera. A full moon over Spring Cove and a giant cruise ship leaving port on its way out to sea.

]]> http://www.candacekaru.com/sweets-n-beets-a-simple-garden-dish/feed http://www.candacekaru.com/weathering-the-storm-garden-edition http://www.candacekaru.com/weathering-the-storm-garden-edition#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:09:02 +0000 Candace http://www.candacekaru.com/?p=1347

It wasn’t exactly a non-event, but by the time Hurricane Irene reached the coast of Southern Maine, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm and had lost a lot of the rage it took out on cities and towns further south and west. Like most people in it’s path, I worked to prepare for the worst, while hoping for the best.

In addition to getting ice for my cooler and charging all my electronics and storm lanterns, I knew I had to prepare the garden. First, we gathered any of the flowers that would be ruined in the high winds and driving rains. This resulted in a house full of color and fragrance, just the ticket for sitting out the storm.

Since the herbs in the garden were abundant as well, we decided to gather them and spend a stormy afternoon making pesto. Fragrant and earthy, pesto is the perfect way to preserve the beauty and flavor of a summer garden for months to come. I make batches to freeze and use them in the winter as a reminder of warmer days.

Nothing could be easier to make. I have proportions that have served me well in making pesto, but the ingredients can change to suit what you have on hand. Generally I use a generous handful of toasted nuts, my favorite are walnuts and almonds. (I’ve stopped using pine nuts in any dish after having a case of Pine Mouth last year. Read about this weird phenomenon here.) I pulse these, along with three cloves of garlic in the food processor.

Next come the herbs. I made several batches with basil and several more with parsley. I love cilantro pesto, but I didn’t have enough from my garden this time. I fill the food processor bowl with herbs, usually about two packed cups and blend nuts, garlic, and herbs. If I’m using parsley I also use the zest of half a lemon.

Then I add about 1/2 cup of cheese. I usually use a good quality Parmigiano Reggiano, but lately I have loved the addition of Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. It has the same earthiness and texture as the Parmigiano, but a depth of flavor that really stands up to the strong taste of the herbs.

Finally I drizzle about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil in the processor as I pulse. That’s about it. Nothing could be easier.

Because I had even more parsley left over I made a Cannellini bean dip that is simpler still. Take one can of white beans, drained and rinsed, the zest of one lemon, three cloves of garlic, one packed cup of parsley and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Put everything in the food processor and blend until creamy and pale green.

To call this a dip is really not giving it its due. This concoction, which is full of protein is versatile, tasty, inexpensive and ready in minutes. Sure it works great as a dip with chips, crackers or veggies, but it also works as a sandwich spread. I like it smeared on French bread, topped with a thin slice of ripe tomato. I’ve also been know to put a dollop or two on hot pasta for a very quick, very easy vegetarian entree.

I also rescued ripe tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden in advance of the impending weather. Nothing is easier - or more delicious - than cherry tomatoes cut in half and sliced cucumbers tossed with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Simple summer food, even in the middle of a storm, really is the best food.

As Irene made her presence known, a few intrepid friends came to my house to watch the waves and enjoy the bounty of a garden under siege. The flowers were gorgeous, the food was fresh and delicious, and Mother Nature put on quite a show!

Grilled Romaine with Cheddar Dressing

It seems that more and more restaurants I go to lately have a grilled Caesar Salad offering on their menus. On a date last week, I had a particularly delicious version of this old/new favorite. The salad was served hot off the grill with the cool dressing oozing in between the romaine leaves. It was divine. I resolved then and there to try my own spin on grilled romaine.

Cheddar Makes It Better

I love the smokey taste of the romaine leaves, drizzled with olive oil, as they emerge from the grill, but I was determined to combine it with something creamier than a regular Caesar dressing. My mind went immediately to a tried and true Cabot recipe for Cheddar Cheese Salad Dressing. I thought it would be a perfect complement to this elegant salad.

Reader, it was.

Creamy Cheddar Cheese Dressing Ingredients (recipe to follow)

And it couldn’t have been easier to prepare. The dressing takes minutes to make and keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator, so making it well ahead of time is no problem. Any left over dressing can be used on salads or as a sandwich topping.

Romaine on the Grill

The grilled romaine is ready in 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of the head of lettuce. I cut two medium heads in half, drizzled them with olive oil and cooked them for about three minutes on each side. That’s it.

When they came off the grill, I spooned the creamy, lemony dressing down the middle of each romaine half and surrounded them with tomatoes straight from my garden and garnished with lemon wedges. It was the perfect lunch, but could have been an amazing side salad for any entree.

Creamy Cheddar Dressing (photo courtesy of Cabot)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Cabot Sour Cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 ounces Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 cup)
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea or kosher
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In bowl, combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and garlic. Whisk together vigorously.

2. Fold in sour cream and mayonnaise; whisk again until thoroughly blended.

3. Stir in cheese and green onions. Stir in salt and season with pepper.

My friends at Cabot Creamery decided that July was the perfect time to get creative about summer desserts. So they challenged five talented and inventive food bloggers to create something sweet and heavenly and perfect for warm weather using Cabot Cheddar Cheese.

Links to each recipe were posted on the Cabot website and people were invited to vote for their favorites. The competition was stiff, but the crowd favorite and ultimate winner was Chef Chaz - Charles French - who wowed us with his delectable Cheddar Brownie with Whipped Cream & Strawberries. This winning recipe will forever reside on the Cabot website and Chef Chaz will retain bragging rights from this day forward.

Chef Chaz’s Cheddar Brownie with Whipped Cream & Strawberries

I’m glad I didn’t have to choose a winner, because all five entries were amazing. Who knew incorporating The World’s Best Cheddar into a summer sweet could result in such delightful desserts? Since they were equally delicious, I thought the only fair way to highlight the remaining four bloggers would be to list them alphabetically by first name.

Prepare to drool!

Philadelphian and ShopRite Potluck Food Blogger Emily Malloy,  modestly claims in her blog Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness, that her Apple & Cheddar Ice Cream is an “edible masterpiece.” She also claims that her funky fresh dessert will remind you of cheesecake. All I know is I can’t wait to try this refreshing summer treat!

Emily’s Apple & Cheddar Ice Cream

This Cheddar Fruit Tart with Fresh Blackberry Sauce might have come from a wicked small kitchen, but it is destined to be a huge hit at tables everywhere. Katie, of The Small Boston Kitchen fame, created a light dessert that she calls “a classic reinvented with a summery twist.” She used Cabot Smooth Sharp Cheddar and combined it with slivers of apples and pears and a fluffy bed of puff pastry. The twist was a drizzle of fresh blackberry sauce and a sprinkling of crunchy almonds.

Katie’s Cheddar Fruit Tart with Fresh Blackberry Sauce

I am a total sucker for anything mini, but Linda, of Welcome to Linneyville, brought mini to new heights with her Cranberry Pecan Double Cheese Mini Pies. I mean, really, how good do these look? With very little effort, these elegant little desserts can be ready for your next get together. The look amazing…and taste divine. Win/win, if you ask me.

Linney’s Cranberry Pecan Double Cheese Mini Pies

I saved Peter, of Peter Is a DB, for last for good reason. He is the reason the folks at Cabot created this challenge, not once but twice. A few months ago, he asked them to challenge him to create a dessert. They said: “Great…use chocolate and cheese.” Peter came up with this gorgeous, crazy piece of work that has no name but looks a little like cheesy, chocolate stuffed French toast.  I’ll let a couple of pictures tell the story:

Peter’s First Challenge

And because once is evidently not enough for this intrepid blogger, Peter came back and asked for a second chance, which is how the official Cabot Summer Dessert Challenge came to be. Peter’s offering for this challenge, Strawberry Cheddar Cheesecake, is an experiment in sweet and savory with a creamy yogurt sauce. He claims the dessert was inspired by an old Married with Children episode. Let’s not quibble with how an artist gets his inspiration. Let’s just enjoy the results.

Peter’s Strawberry Cheddar Cheesecake

]]> http://www.candacekaru.com/just-desserts-a-new-way-to-say-cheese/feed http://www.candacekaru.com/razzle-dazzle-em-raspberries-from-a-summer-garden http://www.candacekaru.com/razzle-dazzle-em-raspberries-from-a-summer-garden#comments Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:03:49 +0000 Candace http://www.candacekaru.com/?p=1303

When I moved into my house 10 years ago the yard was bordered by a tangle of trees and bushes. It created a lush buffer between my neighbors and me so I let it remain wild and untouched. “Let” is probably the most benign spin I can put on my effort. I have a way with plants…a very bad way. So the less I was involved in their care and maintenance, the better off all god’s creatures would be.

My youngest child moved out of the house several years ago and after happily living in my well-ordered but very empty nest I eventually decided  to get a housemate. David and I are perfect cohabiters; we are both quiet and private and deeply respectful of boundaries and personal space. We also have many complimentary skills.

The talent I most value in this incredibly gifted man is his ability to bend nature to his will. Saying he has a green thumb does not begin to plumb the depths his brilliance when it comes to gardening. My yard is now a place of breathtaking beauty and bounty. It is a riot of flowers, vegetables, herbs, plants, shrubs, bees, and birds. Among his many other horticultural accomplishments, David discovered a covey of raspberry canes in the tangled brush around the house. Without disturbing the wild nature of the border, he cleared out weeds around the plants, wove the canes around each other for mutual support and fed and watered them until they blossomed in the spring.

Berries for breakfast!

And now we have the most gorgeous harvest of berries you could imagine. I eat them for breakfast in my yogurt. I bake them in various desserts. I snack from the bushes after a run. I am berry blessed.

In honor of this season’s raspberry harvest, David has given me permission to print his Nana Stacy’s Raspberry Buckle recipe. It has been passed down through generations of Mainers — a dessert that combines fruit and moist cake batter, and is topped with a rich, crunchy streusel topping. Be aware that while this works beautifully with raspberries, it is equally scrumptious with native Maine blueberries.

Nana Stacy’s Raspberry Buckle

Berry Buckle:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup soft shortening

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups raspberries

Streusel Topping:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

Pre-heat oven to 375º.  Cream eggs, sugar, and shortening together. Combine dry ingredients separately.  Mix together, then add milk. Gently fold in berries, mixing as little as possible. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 9 baking pan.

To make streusel topping, cut butter into small pieces and mix all ingredients together. (Nana Stacy and David recommend using your hands for this process, ensuring that all the ingredients are evenly combined.) Top cake with streusel mix and cook for 45 - 50 minutes.

But wait! There were still more berries, so next came a very basic raspberry pie. No need for a recipe here, it’s just pie crust, berries dusted with flour, with a bit of sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. Easy, elegant, and the essence of summer.

Ready for the oven.

A little too dark, but the phone rang…

Leftover dough cookies.

When I have pie for breakfast, I use my Princess fork.

And thanks to David, The Plant Whisperer, there will be lots more posts from our garden. Stay tuned!

At my house, summer in Maine is a revolving door of family, friends, and unexpected guests. And while there is nothing I love more than feeding a house full of hungry people, I also want to take time to enjoy the myriad charms of the Maine coast at its most beautiful.

Recently, I got a call from friends who were passing through on their way to Bar Harbor. They called late in the morning, saying they planned to arrive at dinnertime. It was a gorgeous day - perfect for a kayak and I didn’t want to waste a second of it going to the store.

So before I put my boat in the water, I raided my refrigerator and pantry with the thought of recreating a long lost family favorite, Marinated Cheese. It probably comes as no surprise that I always have a few bars of Cabot Cheddar in my fridge. But for these guests I wanted to do something a bit more creative, elegant, and fun than just cheese and crackers.

Years ago, I had a friend who was born and raised in Georgia. She ran a wildly successful catering business. Her signature was an amazing appetizer that was always a hit, no matter where she served it. My son, at the time a budding five year old foodie, called it Swimming Cheese, because of its fragrant marinade bath. Eventually, everyone was demanding Swimming Cheese for their next event.

While I didn’t have a specific recipe at hand, I remembered enough to improvise on this one. It turned out to be just as lovely as I remembered.

Here’s what I had on hand to get started: a lime, still juicy, but nearing the end of its shelf life, white wine vinegar, olive oil, a small jar of roasted red peppers, some capers, a solitary shallot hiding at the bottom of the onion basket, basil from my garden, and various forms and flavors of The World’s Best Cheddar. It was all I really needed to forge ahead.

Swimming Cheese

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine)

juice of one lime or lemon

1 shallot, minced (you can use 2 tablespoons of minced onion or a couple of minced scallions)

1/2 of a  4oz. jar of roasted peppers, chopped

2 tbls capers (optional)

1/3 cup basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

2  8oz bars of Cabot Cheddar, Montery Jack, Colby Jack, or Muenster

Whisk lime or lemon juice together with vinegar and olive oil. Add shallots, peppers, basil (as well as capers, if you have them) and salt and pepper. Set the marinade aside.

Cut cheese slices about 1/4 inch thick and then cut in half to make bite-sized pieces. To save time and effort, I arranged the slices artfully on a dish, poured the marinade over the cheese, covered the whole thing with plastic wrap, and popped it in the refrigerator. You can marinate the cheese in a plastic storage container and arrange a platter later, if you want.

Let the cheese marinate for as long as possible. Eight hours or overnight is best, but you can get away with as little as four hours if you’re crunched for time.

Preparing the marinade is quick and easy. I used what I had on hand; you should too. You can give this dish a southwest flavor by adding minced garlic and cumin, substituting cilantro for the basil and adding hot peppers. You can also use flavored cheeses. I had half a bar of Cabot Tomato Basil Cheddar and a couple of bags of Serious Snacking bars, one of which was Reduced Fat Habanero Cheddar. This isn’t brain surgery, so use your imagination and what’s handy. It’s pretty hard to make a mistake here, folks.

Just about everyone I know is on a reduced carb diet these days, so I served my cheese platter sans crackers or bread. I put out party picks for the cheese and a jar of my friend Marji’s famous Dilly Beans for a little veggie punctuation. Pairing this summer fare with a bottle of vinho verde completed the offering.

So pretty, so summery, so yummy…everybody in the pool for a swim!

For years, my mother has had a subscription to People magazine. She dutifully reads it from cover to cover and passes it on to me the following week, as the most current edition hits her mailbox. I often let these back issues stack up until I have a chance to read them. This is most likely to happen on a plane flight or a rainy Sunday afternoon.

And rain it did this past Sunday. The cold, gray day forced me onto the couch, surrounded by snoring dogs and the waterlogged pages of People. Did I mention that my mother often reads these in the bathtub? I’m not sure when it happened, but there is now a recipe or two in every issue, often by a celebrity chef or even the celebrity du jour — Beyonce! Kim Kardashian! That dude from Survivor!

Mostly I just skip over the recipes, but one recent entry caught my eye…and my imagination. You see, I’m on a low-carb tear these days. For the past year, I’ve been successful in controlling my weight and my pre-diabetic condition by cutting out sugars and carbohydrates. More and more, doctors are telling us it’s not fat that’s making us fat, it’s refined carbs and sugars. Sadly, this means my pasta consumption has declined dramatically.

And I miss it. Like nobody’s business. I miss spaghetti bolognese. I miss pasta pesto. And boy, do I ever miss macaroni and cheese. But here was a recipe that seemed to be offering me a reasonable alternative, from the winner of a reality cooking show called MasterChef.

The inaugural season’s winner, Whitney Miller’s recipe for Cauliflower “Mac n’ Cheese” gets a huge thumbs of from me. It’s easy to make, completely delicious, and fits my new food lifestyle perfectly. I’m going to give you Whitney’s recipe, but the changes I made are in italics.

Smack (your lips it’s so yummy) n’ Cheese

8 cups cauliflower florets (1 head) I used more, almost two heads

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt I used Maine sea salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tbsp unsalted Cabot butter

2 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/2 cup heavy cream I used Half & Half

1/4 tsp. table salt

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese I used Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar. I also added about 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese for a little kick.

Next time I’m going to add a bit of diced pancetta for a flavor and texture boost.

This Bayley Hazen Blue from Jasper Hill Farm is pretty amazing!

Preheat oven to 400º. Toss florets in oil on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and lightly browned, about 20 - 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven and reduce heat to 350º.

I used a white head of cauliflower and a pretty pale orange one.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, two to four minutes. Whisk in cream and cook for five minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in salt and pepper and all but two tsp. of cheese. Stir over medium-low heat.

Yummy Cheddar and Blue Cheese sauce.

Place cauliflower in an 8 x 8 glass baking dish or four 10-oz. ramekins. Pour cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until sauce is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.

Drool-worthy Smack n’ Cheese

Reader, I give you…

First up, an elegant offering from my colleague and friend Regan Miller Jones, known online as The Professional Palate. Regan is not only a Cabot Registered Dietitian, she is also an an amazing cook and food photographer. Here is her take on Rosemary Apple Grilled Cheese.

Rosemary Apple Grilled Cheese

Next is an offering from my newest foodie friend, Emily Malloy. Emily is a blogger for Shoprite. In fact, she is one of 12 bloggers on the Shoprite’s Potluck blog site. Emily’s grilled cheese offering - Grilled Cheese with Asparagus, Caramelized Onions and Pear -  is a sophisticated take that I can hardly wait to try.

Grilled Cheese with Asparagus, Caramelized Onion & Pear

Blogger Bruce Tretter has a website - Gotta Eat, Can’t Cook, that teaches basic cooking skills, step-by-step, online. He recently created a kid-friendly grilled cheese that is sure to please even the youngest member of your family and shows them how to do it themselves.

Kid-Friendly Grilled Cheese

Barbara Kiebel has one of the most gorgeous food blogs that I follow. On Vino Luci Style, she writes lovingly and intelligently about food and takes the most amazing photographs to boot. This recipe for Grilled Cheese and Short Rib Sandwich may not be for the faint of heart, but oh my goodness, does it look worth the effort!

Grilled Cheese/Short Rib Sandwich

From rock star, and Vermont legend, Grace Potter of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, comes a a family grilled cheese recipe inspired by the colors of autumn, but yummy any time of the year. You can watch Grace make her Grilled Cheddar, Apple, Onion, and Red Pepper Jelly sandwich here on YouTube.

Grilled Cheddar, Apple, Onion, and Red Pepper Jelly

When my family lived in Miami, we loved stopping at the tiny corner store for Cuban sandwiches, a heady combination of ham, roast pork, pickles, cheese and mustard, pressed together to create a heavenly lunch that, after we moved, I could only dream about. Then I found this recipe for a Cuban-style grilled cheese on the Cabot website that is a healthier, lighter version of my old favorite. Huzzah!

Cuban-Style Grilled Cheese

I have a weakness for avocados. If you add avocados to grilled cheese, well shut my mouth and call me happy. I came across this blog post on Bread + Butter for a Grilled Cheese and Avocado sandwich. It’s creamy, colorful and completely yummy!

Grilled Cheese & Avocado

And now I ask you, who doesn’t love broccoli and cheese? This inspired combination led Food Renegade blogger Kristen Michaelis to create this simple - and simply delicious - Broccoli and Grilled Cheese Sandwich, destined to be a hit for cheese lovers of all ages.

Broccoli & Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Let’s not forget that a grilled cheese by any other name is still…yummy. I am a huge fan of Mexico’s version of the American Classic and this Cheddar and Bean Quesadilla from Cabot is, in a word, ¡delicioso!

Cabot Cheddar & Bean Quesadilla

]]> http://www.candacekaru.com/more-grilled-cheese-to-love/feed http://www.candacekaru.com/spring-fling http://www.candacekaru.com/spring-fling#comments Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:04:49 +0000 Candace http://www.candacekaru.com/?p=1233 I’m not a religious person. My spiritual beliefs align themselves around The The Golden Rule and a love and respect for the wonder of the world around me. While I’m not much for organized religion, I do love tradition and family history, which has clearly been influenced by my religious heritage.

That is why I love spring. My Christian upbringing provides me with an understanding of and respect for the rituals of Lent, Holy Week and Easter. My Jewish extended family gives me an appreciation of the significance of Passover. In the end, for me spring is a time of renewal and joy, rich with tradition. It’s a perfect time to celebrate with family and friends.

Over the years my family has created and refined our own version of a spring fete. We honor our combined personal history in a mash-up of longstanding traditions. Call it what you will — Passter, Eastover, or even Beltane — it’s a time when we gather to be together around a table laden with food, a time to welcome green grass and spring flowers, and revel in the spirit of rebirth and reawakening.

Most of the food I make holds years of memories, but we often introduce something new to see if it makes the cut. (We do the same with people. If they embrace the spirit of the gathering, they’re invited back. If it all seems too unorthodox, they usually run screaming to the nearest church or synagog.)

The meal starts with chopped liver, served on matzo. I’ve used my own tweaked version of The Barefoot Contessa’s recipe forever. It’s divine!

What am I, chopped liver? Yup!

Next up, matzo ball soup. I always have home made chicken stock on hand. Whenever I roast a chicken, which is often, I make a pot of soup after. I throw the roasted chicken bones, skin, neck, gizzards, chopped carrots, onions, celery, a head of garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, maybe some thyme and a cup or two of white wine into a stock pot. Then I cover it all with water, bring to a boil and then simmer. For a long, long time. Strain and voila! Perfect chicken stock.

Chicken Soup. It makes me happy.

Into the chicken soup I float lovely, pillowy matzo balls, the making of which is demonstrated here.

Matzo, matzo ball, I’m proud to be a matzo ball.

Next up, the Main Event. It’s always a perfectly roasted chicken. Or two. Or three. Depending on the numbers. Life is hard. Perfectly roasted chicken is easy. Start with a great quality bird. I’m a fan of Bell & Evans. Preheat oven to 425º. Rinse, pat dry and place in a roasting pan. Put half a lemon and two or three cloves of garlic in the cavity. Slide a few more garlic cloves under the skin on the breast and thighs. Give your bird a little shower in white wine. Have a glass for yourself. Sprinkle lovingly with sea salt and course ground pepper. Give you bird a little chicken broth to sit in while it’s cooking. That’s it.

I cook my bird faster and shorter than most, but it’s done when the internal temperature reaches 180º.

Life is hard. Perfectly roasted chicken is easy.

The bird is served with fluffy mashed potatoes and gravy made from those yummy pan drippings. Also on the plate are bright green beans sauteed with bits of salty pancetta. Definitely NOT Kosher for Passover.

Dessert is often the wild card of the Spring Fling. This year, because I am obsessed with Cabot Vanilla Greek Yogurt, I decided to make Vanilla Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt Buttercream Icing. I’m not much of a baker, but these were off-the-hook delicious.

Light and tasty: Vanilla Greek Yogurt Cupcakes with Vanilla Greek Yogurt Buttercream Icing. Oy!

At this particular celebration, the Christians outnumbered the Jews and the non-observant outnumbered them both. But we were united in our feelings of celebration…of spring, of life, of each other.

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