Braised White Beans with Rosemary

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Has anyone had the white beans at Zoe's Kitchen? They are delish! I really wanted some this weekend, but with the icy conditions we had here in NC, it was easier to make them at home. They take a couple hours to cook, but man is it worth it! Such a yummy warm comfy dish! It went great with our turkey shish kabobs and greek salad last night for dinner. 

Braised White Bean with Rosemary

Ingredients:

4 cans great northern beans, drained but not rinsed

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 tbsp

1 cup vegetable stock

2 springs rosemary

1/2 tsp salt, plus salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dice onion and saute until translucent in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add salt and garlic and cook until fragrant (~1 minute). Add beans, 1 cup vegetable stock, 1/4 cup olive oil and rosemary and  cook on high until bubbling. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Stir/mash beans and add salt and pepper to taste. Add pot to a 300 degree oven and cook for an additional hour. Serve warm as main dish, side dish or as a dip with pita chips.

Give this recipe a try! You will not be disappointed!

The Doyles

Sunday Pot Roast

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you had a great weekend! It was a pretty dreary weekend in NC. Great weather to snuggle up inside and watch some football. But don't even get me started on my Wolfpack who had a terrible loss to those awful Tar Heels on Saturday. 

Anyway, I made a pot roast yesterday. The Pioneer Woman's perfect pot roast to be exact. I also made a delicious kale and apple salad inspired by one of our favorite Greek restaurants. I'll post the recipe later today. 

Okay, back to the pot roast. I should probably begin by telling you about the newest addition to the Doyle kitchen. My beautiful 5.5 quart food network dutch oven from Kohl's. I am in love. $69.99 people! It's amazing! The Le Creuset 5.5 quart dutch oven retails for $265.00 at Williams-Sonoma. 

Isn't she a beauty?! Did I mention I'm in love? The perfect pot for my Sunday pot roast. :)

So here are the guests for the pot roast party. 

Sunday Pot Roast

Ingredients

1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Onions
6 whole Carrots (Up To 8 Carrots)
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)
2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

Directions

First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

Add a bit more olive oil, if needed, to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of the flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

Recipe from the Pioneer Woman

It was out of this world delicious. Perfect Sunday evening meal. Did anyone else cook any great Sunday meals? Any recipe ideas I can try in the new dutch oven?

The Doyles

Inspired by the Frontier

I absolutely love Ree Drummond, also known as the Pioneer Woman. Ree and I hang out every Saturday morning. The only weird thing about this friendship is - she isn't aware of it. :) Does anyone else watch her show? It comes on at 10:30 ET on the Food Network. I just love to grab a cup of coffee and see what yummy things she's going to whip up. 

This past Saturday when my parents were in town, my mom and I watched Ree make rib eye steaks with onion blue cheese sauce, restaurant-style smashed potatoes, corn with pasilla butter and strawberry sparkle cake. We were inspired. Guess what we had for dinner that night? 

Hubby took care of the steaks, he is the meatatarian of the family after all. He also cooked the corn on the grill, minus the pasilla butter. We are not pepper/spicy people so plain grilled corn is fine by us. When cooking grilled corn we typically pull back the husks, remove the silk and then rub on butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then pull the husks back over the corn for grilling. 

Here are the recipes we used for the steak sauce, smashed potatoes and sparkle cake modified from the Pioneer Woman.

Onion Blue Cheese Steak Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 rib eye steaks 
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 stick softened butter
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and then saute the onions until golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Pour in the cream, a dash of salt and pepper and the Worcestershire sauce. Let it bubble up, then add the blue cheese and stir together to melt, adding more pepper or Worcestershire sauce as you wish.

Spoon the sauce over the top of your steak.

Restaurant-Style Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 5 whole large red potatoes
• 1 stick butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 1 cup pepper jack cheese, grated
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 whole green onions, sliced, plus more for topping
• Salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Directions

Poke a few holes in the potatoes bake in a 400 degree F oven until fork-tender (45-55 minutes). Add to a large bowl and smash with a potato smasher.

Immediately add the softened butter, cheese, sour cream, bacon and green onions, and stir with a rubber spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Great with steak!

Strawberry Sparkle Cake

Ingredients

1 store bought angle food cake

1 tub of Cool Whip

Filling:

• One 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1 pound package frozen strawberries

Directions

For the filling: Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and add the strawberries, stirring to break up and mix the berries.

To assemble: Place the cake, wide-side down, on a serving plate. Cut a 1-inch layer from the top and set it aside. Cut around the cake 1 inch from the outer edge to 1 inch from the bottom. Cut around the cake 1 inch from the inner edge to 1 inch from the bottom.

Gently remove the section of cake between the cuts and pour in the strawberry mixture.

Place the cake layer back on top and spread the Cool Whip all over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with whole strawberries.

Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

The Pioneer Woman made her cake and icing from scratch. Here are her recipes if you'd also like to make yours too. The store bought cake and icing are a quick and easy option and are still very delicious! 

Cake:

• 15 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon cream of tarter
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake: Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until 

stiff. Sift the superfine sugar three times and add slowly to the egg whites.

Sift the cake flour and salt five times, and then fold slowly into the egg whites. Sprinkle in 

the vanilla and fold.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes in an unbuttered angel food cake pan. After the cake rises and 

begins to brown, cover with buttered paper. Remove the paper in the last 5 to 10 

minutes.

Set aside to cool completely, inverted on a bottle or jar that fits the cake pan.

Icing:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• Whole strawberries, for decorating
• 
  
• For the icing: Whip the cream with the powdered sugar until thick.
• 
  
• Unfortunately, I was too busy eating the sparkle cake to take a picture of ours. But you can check out Ree's here. Her photography is way better than mine anyway. :) 

Have you made any of Ree's recipes? I'd love for you to share if you have! 

The Doyles

Comfort Foods

Doesn't this time of year get you in mood for some cozy comfort food? You know what I mean, those dishes that make you feel warm whether it be hot chili or sweet treats with cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices. So, keeping with the theme of my favorite season, I wanted to share some cozy recipes that I love to make this time of year. 

First is a family favorite - Apple Cake. Nothing says fall like apples. I have made this recipe from Bakerella for the past several years and it is a BIG hit at our house. I already have a request from my parents to make this when they come to visit in a couple weeks. 

Apple Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped dates rolled in flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon and set aside.
Combine sugar and oil using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
Add flour mixture and mix well.
Stir in nuts, dates and apples. The batter will be very thick.
Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.
Cool cake and using a skewer, poke holes in cake.
Cook topping ingredients on stove until mixture bubbles.
Pour topping over cake.

Source: Recipe from Bakerella

This cake is delicious! And that topping....Oh. My. Goodness. I think we have decided that you could put it on just about anything and it would taste good. We haven't actually tested that theory, but on the cake it is simply divine! Trust me, you need to try this cake!

Moving on to something a little more savory. I could eat something sweet just about every meal of the day, but a little balance does a person good. And how cozy is chili. It's one of those curl up with a blanket or eat in front of a football game kind of dishes. I found this chicken chili recipe on Annie's blog, Annie's Eats. She has so many great recipes. Her blog is definitely on my daily must read list. This is a chicken chili recipe is delicious. I modified it a bit because I'm not much of a spicy fan. Hubby is the exact opposite but I figure he can just add extra heat to his bowl. I also have tried this recipe with a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. This makes the recipe quicker/easier for me on a week night.

Chicken Chili

1 rotisserie chicken (pre-cooked)
Salt and pepper
4 cups chopped yellow onion (2-3 onions)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 bell peppers (I used 1 red, 1 orange and 1 yellow)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 (28 oz.) cans diced peeled tomatoes in puree, not drained
2 (15 oz.) cans beans, drained and rinsed (I used 1 can black and 1 can pinto beans)

cheddar cheese and Fritos for topping (optional) 

Shred or chop rotisserie chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Sauté the onions 10-15 minutes, or until tender and translucent.  Add the garlic to the pot and sauté just until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Mix in the chopped bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, oregano, and kosher salt.  Cook 5 more minutes.  Add the tomatoes with the puree to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the shredded chicken and the beans, and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.

Top with cheddar cheese and Fritos. Yum!

Source: Modified from Annie's Eats 

Next is a classic. Chicken Pot Pie. My husband loves it. But every time he would say, "I really like chicken pot pie" I would change the subject. It scared me. It seemed too difficult. I think it was this picture of a cute individual pot pie that changed my mind. 

Isn't that adorable? It won me over. I decided to be brave. I think mine turned out pretty pretty if I do say so myself. :)

I will warn you, homemade pot pies are time consuming. But its actually pretty easy if you just follow the recipe. And totally worth every minute.

Chicken Pot Pie

Filling:
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 rotisserie chicken
1 cup frozen peas and carrots  

Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and ground white pepper

Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
10 ounces chilled cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 large egg

For the Filling: Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and potato; sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and sauté about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the crushed red pepper and add salt and pepper to taste.

While the vegetables are sautéing, skin the chicken, pull the meat off the bones, and shred the meat or cut into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Place the green beans in a microwave-safe bowl, and add enough water to cover. Cover the dish and microwave on high power about 10 minutes, until the beans are tender. Drain thoroughly.

Stir the beans, peas, and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.

For the Sauce: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup. Add the cream, hot pepper sauce, and salt and white pepper to taste.

Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine.

Fill individual 1 1/4-cup capacity oven-safe bowls three-quarters of the way to the top with the creamed chicken filling.

For the Crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the butter into 16 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.

Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls–mine are about 4 inches across–and cut out dough rounds that are 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pies, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Source: Recipe and picture Ezra Pound Cake

Now I can't talk fall and comfort food without mentioning one of the most important fall ingredients, Pumpkin. We are huge pumpkin fans in our house. I made these muffins a few weeks ago and boy are they good. They are a little more difficult and time consuming but well worth it. There is a little surprise inside each one. So yummy! :)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. 

Source: Recipe and picture from Annie's Eats

Whew, that was a mouthful of comfort food. Now that I mention it, I'd really like a mouthful of comfort food right now! :) Maybe I'll whip up one of these recipes tonight! What about you, do you have any fall favorites?

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

The Doyles