Roasted Garlic Baba Ganoush

I'm a dips and spreads kinda gal - I like to have something I can dunk into, smear over, or spoon onto whatever delicious morsel I'm about to consume. If there's a way I can incorporate roasted garlic into said dip/spread, even better. If you're reading this and thing, Me toooo!, then read on my friend, it only gets better.  This recipe is great to have on deck for a dinner party or backyard barbeque for a few reasons: it can be made the day before so all you have to do to get it ready is remove it from the fridge. It also goes great with pretty much anything - dip veggies in it, spread it on a burger, smear it on grilled pork chops, pop it in a veggie wrap, dollop it next to chorizo sausage, serve it with roasted veggies or herby quinoa... really. I could go on and on.  The lemony pop that it brings keeps it light and fresh tasting, and it pairs well with richer foods like the aforementioned sausage or burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• Juice from one medium lemon
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 3 bulbs garlic
• Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon

Directions:

Roasted Eggplant & Mixing Bowl:

1. Set your oven to max broil (mine is 525 F). Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil and lightly greasing it. Set aside. 
2. Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch thick rounds, and lay it them on the baking sheet. Broil for 20 minutes or until rounds are a deep golden color, flipping every 5 minutes. 
3. While your eggplant is roasting you can mix the tahini, lemon juice, and scallion in a medium bowl. If you have a food processor, place these ingredients in there instead! I have an immersion blender so a bowl is where I'll be headed.
4. When the eggplant is done roasting, remove it from the oven. Carefully lift opposite ends of the foil together and crimp them together (the eggplant will slide around, just be sure it stays on the foil). Bring the other ends in and crimp the foil packet closed to trap the moisture as the eggplant cools. Let it rest for about 20 minutes. You can start on the Roasted Garlic at this time.
5. After the eggplant has cooled you can unwrap the eggplant from the foil packet, then gently peel back the skin from each round and add the eggplant to your tahini mix. The eggplant should fall away from the skin quite easily at this point so don't be afraid of this step - it's quite fun! Set the bowl aside to wait for the roasted garlic.

Roasted Garlic & Finishing up: 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the top 1/4 inch off the top of each garlic bulb, then place the bulbs together on a sheet of foil large enough to wrap around them (roughly the same size as a sheet of paper). Drizzle the bulbs with olive oil, then wrap the foil around them bulbs snugly (like a Tootsie Roll). Place the garlic pack in the middle of the oven and roast for 45-60 min. I like to check my garlic at the 45 minute mark, and if the bulbs are not golden and almost popping out of their little pods then I put it back in for 15 minutes more. 
2. Once the garlic has roasted remove it from the oven and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes. Once it has cooled you can unwrap the bulbs and use a knife to pop out each head into your eggplant mixture.
3. Use your immersion blender or food processor to puree the ingredients together until it is a smooth consistency. Or if you're feeling wild, you can use a fork and mash roughly here and there for a chunky baba ganoush (this works best when you're using this as a side rather than a dip).  You're done! Enjoy!

I like to prep this a day in advance so the flavors have time to mingle, so at this stage I would put it in a sealed container in the fridge until I was about 15 minutes away from serving. It's also delicious warm! So do whatever the heck you want and eat it however the heck you want. Get it girl. 

Bacon Jam

This is a game-changer, folks. Bacon jam. It becomes this little chant in your head, bacon jam, bacon jam, bacon jam. You'll be trying to come up with excuses to smear it on any and everything you eat. You won't want to share. You'll get a little crazy. Bacon jam, bacon jam, bacon jam!

I had been meaning to make a savory jam recipe for a few months now, and after weeks of procrastinating for homemade holiday gift ideas, I decided bacon jam would be a fun treat to give away. Of course, as soon as I had made the jam I didn't want to give any of it away because it is so dang delicious, but I resisted hoarding this jam all for myself and gave away all but one jar. I know, I'm reallllly selfless like that.

Makes six 8oz. jars
Cooking time: 2-3 hours (simply depending on whether you feel like multitasking)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb thick-cut bacon
• 8 garlic bulbs
• Olive oil for drizzling, about 1 tablespoon
• 10 yellow onions
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel and slice all yellow onions. Place them in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot along with the butter, apple cider vinegar, and honey. Cook for 2 hours over medium-low heat until onions are caramelized and dark brown, stirring occasionally. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Cook for an additional 45 minutes then place in a large bowl for blending  (or if you have a blender or food processor, place the onion into that!).
2. While the onions caramelize, slice the top 1/4" off the top of each garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Grease a casserole dish then place all garlic bubs in sliced-side up. Generously drizzle with olive oil, cover with foil and roast for 35-45 minutes until garlic is tender and golden. Let the garlic cool, then use a butter knife to pop out each clove into the same bowl (or blender) where you put the onions (it doesn't matter which order you put things together for blending, so if you want to wait to roast the garlic until the end of the caramelizing time, go for it!)
3. Preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Chop the bacon into 1/2" pieces and cook until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon onto a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Cover with foil and place in refrigerator until you are ready to blend the jam.
4. Once all cooking is finished, place the caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and bacon in a large bowl and blend with a hand immersion blender until still slightly chunky (or place directly into a food processor or blender and do the same - you want a chunky jam consistency). 
5.  Use a funnel (wide-mouthed for canning) to distribute the jam evenly between six 8 ounce jars. Jam will last up to 2 weeks refrigerated. Serve it warmed up with fresh dinner rolls, on pork chops, in a sandwich, with water crackers and brie... or on a spoon? Yeah. That's also a good option. 

I added tags and expiration dates to the jars I gave away, and wrapped them in tissue paper for an easy but festive look. I brought a jar of this jam and a loaf of homemade French bread for Christmas morning, and it was delicious along with scrambled eggs and coffee.

Mini Chicken and Prosciutto Quiches

These are perfect for on-the-go days when you need something substantial enough to keep you going for a few hours but you’re not ready for a full-on meal.

Ingredients:

·         1 chicken breast

·         3 slices prosciutto

·         ½ cup spinach

·         4 jalepenos

·         6 cloves garlic

·         3 tablespoons mayo

·         ¼  cup grated parmesan cheese

·         1 egg

·         12 mini tart shells, frozen

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes. Peel the cloves of garlic and place them in a 8x8 baking dish, cover with foil. Roast them in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

2.      Meanwhile, preheat a skillet to medium heat. Chop your chicken into ½” cubes put them in the skillet. Roughly chop the prosciutto and add it to the pan. Once the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes, add the spinach and turn off the heat. Stir the chicken mixture to let the spinach wilt and set it aside to cool.

3.      Once the jalapenos and garlic are finished roasting, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a bowl. Using a small knife and fork, roughly mash/chop the jalapenos and garlic into a paste-like consistency. Mix in the mayo and parmesan, then add the chicken mixture.

4.      Crack the egg onto the bowl of filling, then mix it for a few minutes to make sure everything is evenly combined.

5.      Spoon the mixture into the thawed pastry shells, then bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.

6.      Remove them from the oven when the crust is golden, then let them cool for 5 minutes before scarfing down.

Chicken Sandwiches with Cambozola and Roasted Garlic

I love using leftover chicken or turkey or beef for my sandwiches! There is something about eating a sandwich with leftover meat or poultry, it's like the homemade-ness of it lends a deeper flavor (or maybe just a deeper satisfaction in knowing that you're using up leftovers!).

I try to roast up something each week, like a chicken or a big beef roast so that I can have easy leftovers throughout the week to have on hand for my meals that week. One of the best and easiest ways to use up leftover meat is to put it in a sandwich! I love sandwiches with pretty much anything on them (it's a curse, really), but I do have a few favorite flavor combos and this is on the top of my list. It does call for a few extra steps that usually go against the whole "quick and easy" nature of sandwiches (see the roasted garlic recipe at the end), but trust me, it's soooo worth it.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped chicken
  
• 2 slices sourdough bread
• 1 tablespoon peach chutney
• Cambozola wedge (may use brie if you don't like the chunks of blue cheese in cambozola) 
• 2-4 cloves roasted garlic (or as many as you prefer!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. 
2. Slice as many pieces of cambozola as desired to put on one piece of sourdough (I like 3 medium-sized slices). 
3. Spread the garlic cloves across one slice of sourdough. On the other slice, spread the chutney.
   
4. Put the cambozola on the garlic-spread slice of bread, and top the chutney-spread slice with chicken.  Put the sandwich halves face up on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. 
5. Remove the open sandwich from the oven, then put the sandwich together. Eat while it's hot!

Enjoy!




Simple Roasted Garlic: 
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Slice off the top 1/2 inch of a head of garlic, so that each bulb is exposed on top. Place the head on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil up around the garlic head and pinch it shut. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is fork tender. Let cool for 5 minutes, then use a knife to pop out each garlic clove, reserve in a small jar or even a ziploc bag. Hint: roasted garlic can punch up any dish... think mashed potatoes, quiches, pizza, alfredo/marinara sauce... the list goes on!

Italian-Style Pasta with a Simple Garlic Sauce

I picked up the latest Bon Appetit issue (those magazines are like gold), and it describes a method of cooking pasta that I had never heard of before! Sad, because it was life-changing when I made it... If only I had known!!!  The silkiness... the flavor... the urge to say ciao... it's all too much.

Ingredients:

• Spaghettini or angel hair pasta
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil
• plenty of salt
• Fresh herbs (basil and oregano!), chopped

Directions:

1. Heat your pasta water, and throw in lots of salt into the water. Yes, a little more. A little more... a little more. Don't be shy with your salt! As soon as it starts to boil throw in your pasta.
2. Heat a large/deep non-stick skillet over medium heat and pour in a drizzle of olive oil and add the garlic. Put the heat on low and cover the pan with a lid, stirring occasionally. 
3. As soon as your pasta is roughly 2 minutes from being done to your likeness, use tongs to plop the pasta into the pan that is cooking your garlic. Add about 1/3 cup of the pasta water, and reserve the rest. Turn the heat to medium-high, and use the tongs to toss the pasta with the garlic sauce. Once it has boiled down and the sauce is thicker (and the pasta is done how you like it) turn off the heat and add in the fresh herbs. Toss with the tongs, and serve.

NOTE: This is the basic method - pasta in one pan, sauce ingredients in the other, use pasta water to thicken sauce... So that means you can saute anything and pour your pasta water on it... asparagus! tomatoes! squash! carrots! peas! mushrooms! sausage! shrimp! anything!Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic and Brie on French Bread

If I had to choose a favorite appetizer, it would have to be this delicious treat... okay, and maybe about ten other delicious food items that I'm not going to talk about today.

I had probably eaten this, say 4 times before I was 21? And then last summer I happened to live close to a family that had me over all the time for appies and drinks... and let's just say I didn't lose any weight eating ungodly amounts of cheese and bread and garlic on a weekly basis. And it was worth. Oh boy, was it worth it.

So, long story not so short I make this when I need to feed more than one person (trust me, you don't want to make this alone because it's impossible to exercise any self-control). The great thing is that it's easy, filling, delicious, and everyone thinks it's way more gourmet than I could ever dream to be. Right now, the smell of roasted garlic is filling my condo and it's all I can do to wait for my guest before tearing into this appy!


Now, for the good part:

Ingredients:

• 1 round of brie (or camembert/cambozola)
• 3 heads of garlic
• French baguette

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Lop off the top 1/4 of each garlic head, so the tops of each clove are exposed (don't get too fussy about this, later the skin will crack open easily if you miss one!). Here's where you can go wild: you can put the heads into a cupcake tin, in a glass dish, in a foil sack... whatever! Just remember these two rules: Drizzle with olive oil and keep the garlic covered the WHOLE time it roasts in the oven. Other than that, it's your dream, baby. Leave the garlic in the middle of the oven for about half an hour. The garlic is done when it's tender and a deep golden color.
2. While the garlic roasts, bring out the cheese and let it sit at room temperature. This is important -- you want it to be super soft for spreading. 
3. When there is roughly 5 minutes left for the garlic, slice up the french bread into 1/2" thick rounds. You can either toast the pieces in the oven, or leave it soft. I prefer unbaked, but it's your call!
4. Plate the garlic heads, cheese, and bread on a platter. I like to put a slice of brie on the french bread then smear a clove of garlic on top, which kind of melts the cheese right before you pop it into your mouth! Give each person a knife for fishing out the garlic cloves otherwise you might have a fistfight on your hands. 

Enjoy!