The Fast Fix: Beer Mac and Cheese Pie

This is the least homemade recipe I’ve every thrown together and I’m not ashamed. Sometimes I just don’t want to put in a ton of work, deal with it. At first, I was worried about sharing the recipe with you all but the more I thought about it, I realized that many of my followers would appreciate this easily made hunger fix. For those nights when you get home from work and just want to pig out on some comfort food, I present to you…drum roll, please….Beer Mac and Cheese Pie.

Independence Chicken

 

I had continuously gone to the liquor store and passed by Aspen Brewing Company’s Independence Pass Ale. Every time I went, I would look around, think about buying it, and then decide to go with another IPA. Finally, I got some advice from one of the beer gurus. He convinced me that this IPA was worthy of my purchase. I was reluctant, but I did it anyway.

Grilled Shrimp with a Serrano and Mango Birra Risotto

 

Because adding beer to risotto is way better than white wine. And because I wanted something Summer-y.

Apricot Tomato Bruschetta made with Crossover (a rustic saison aged in white wine barrels)

 

First think I’d like to say:

Growing basil and mint is one of the smartest things a home cook can do. They grow like weeds because well, they kind of are. Their abundance of leaves means lots of uses without having to spend a pretty penny at the grocery store. For this recipe, I pretty much picked my whole basil plant. I’m not too worried though, since I know it will be replenished in about 2 weeks. Until then, I’ll be spreading my basil-mint pesto on just about everything.

BLT-double-E Waffle Sandwich

I just about died when I bit into this BLT-double-E waffle sandwich. Maybe you can’t tell from the picture but there are actually fried eggs cooked into the waffle. That’s right, in the middle of each waffle, there is a precious little egg waiting to satisfy your every bite. Also on the sandwich, is lettuce. It is a BLT after all but if you’ve read my previous posts, you know I hate salad and I hate lettuce. I’ll bear through the green stuff though, if it’s on a bacon sandwich. The best part about this BLT-double-E, besides being so darn delicious, is that it’s flexible! Who says you even have to add lettuce? You could add avocado, more bacon, turkey, more bacon….you get the picture.

Sage Chicken Puff Pastries

I was looking to make a quick dinner before Brandon and I headed out to the New Kids on the Block beer party. We needed a meal filled with protein and some carbs to lessen our inevitable hangover the next day. I had made a recipe similar to this one from something I found on Pinterest. I kept the basic concept of filling a puff pastry with chicken, but I found a way to make it my own. I knew I wanted to work with sage and I knew I wanted to try and keep it somewhat low-fat – so here’s what I came up with: Sage Chicken Puff Pastries. They have all the summery herb and lemon flavors that go so well with chicken, but also a bit of a kick from red pepper flakes. If you want to amp up the spice, add another teaspoon. For a side dish, I suggest roasting some zucchini. This recipe looks elegant but is extremely simple to put together. It’s the perfect way to impress some dinner guests! Serve it with the Utah Sage Saison by Epic Brewing and your friends will be asking to come over for dinner every night of the week.

Sweet Chilli Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Chive Waffles paired with Rauch Geek Breakfast

My birthday was a few weeks ago and my dad got me a Walmart gift card. Some people may think this is weird, some may think it is awesome. I’m one of the latter. Walmart has so many cooking appliances and they are incredibly cheap. Naturally, the first things I bought were a deep fryer and a waffle maker because I was trying to be healthy…not. I was determined to go home and make chicken and waffles. The one dilemma with chicken and waffles is that they take all day to make, but the waiting and anticipation of deliciousness makes them taste that much better. I knew I didn’t want my chicken and waffles to be the same old boring chicken and waffles you can get at any southern restaurant. I needed to step it up a notch. What better way to do that than with sweet chilli sauce? This is probably one of my favorite condiments/additions/sauces. Its such an great ingredient too because it’s sweet and spicy character makes it versatile and easy manipulate in a variety of dishes. To meld the waffles with the chicken, I decided on the addition of chives and garlic powder. The savory character of the waffles and the sweet-n-spicy chicken worked perfectly together and looked gorgeous on the plate. It also put me into a food coma. If you too want to go into a food coma of pure bliss, try out the sweet chili fried chicken and buttermilk chive waffles. You will not be disappointed – unless you’re a vegetarian and in that case, start eating meat.

Cooking with Friends – Pasta Carbonara

Last week I went over to cook with my newly married friends, the Belsky family. I love cooking with friends, especially when we are making separate parts of the meal. This way, we don’t have to end up in a fist-fight over who has the best technique or which recipe is better (can you tell I am super competitive). Kaitlin stuck to what she knew, the carbonara, and I worked on with the pasta. Kaitlin and Peter also got a little lesson on how to make pasta from scratch! It was great having Peter around because we used him to finish kneading the pasta. I like making pasta but my weak little girl muscles just can’t handle the burn, which is why its great to have big, strong men around to help out in the kitchen.