Gorgonzola Biscuits with Pinot Noir infused Butter... fantasies, satisfaction, and disappointment

Where do I even begin with this one? How amazing this recipe is? How disappointing my end result was? The lesson I am trying to take away from the whole experience? I guess, I'll begin telling you about my love affair.

My love affair with gorgonzola began about a year and a half ago. Since then, it has developed into a committed, passionate, and exciting relationship. I love the positions I can put it in, and thinking about it always makes my lips wet...

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. But really, I put gorgonzola on everything, and it does make my mouth water. I love it on wedge salads, (well, all salads) in burgers, and my all time favorite: as a sauce for thin crust pizza topped with figs, prosciutto, and balsamic-tossed arugula.

I also really love wine. My relationship with wine is at that stage where, if I was dating it, I wouldn't know much about it yet, but would be lusting after it with that first-kiss kind of excitement. Before I tried this recipe, I was really only sure I liked merlot and chardonnay. But the bottle of pinot noir I bought for this recipe was gone in 24 hours. Now I can add to my list of reds I know I like and know the names of. And it inspired me to try pinot grigio because I figured I would probably like the white version of pinot as well. Which I did.

So when I saw the recipe for these biscuits my heart skipped a beat. It was my two objects of affection having a love affair of their own! If I got involved, it would become a blissful threesome! They were all I could think about between when I discovered the recipe and when I made them. I fantasized about them in class... I could imagine their taste, texture and temperature as vividly as I think is possible in a fantasy, which is not enough to feel satisfied...(don't you wish it was?!?!)

In my fantasy, I sat on a picnic blanket under a tree on a sunny day at Chautauqua Park. Mark lay on his back with his head in my lap, and we had a european-like sense of slowed-down time. We savored the biscuits, eating them sensually accompanied by some ripe fruit and cured meat, whilst washing it all down with pinot grigio.

A word of advice: either don't fantasize at all or (somehow) get enough of a sense of satisfaction from your fantasy that you aren't even tempted to attempt to make it play out in real life. It never will. Not exactly.

I am a control freak who fears change and uncertainty. A perfectionist who doesn't trust that things will work out if I don't micromanage them. I am working on learning how to enjoy the spontaneous and surprising pleasures in life. I know that would be much more satisfying than planning exactly how my pleasure will unfold and being disappointed when it doesn't go as planned. Probably even more satisfying than my fantasy, played out exactly, would have been, because I would know what's going to happen.

...Excuse the tangent. Sometimes the biggest things we need to work on in life manifest themselves in the smallest ways. Observing our everyday thoughts/patterns/struggles/

behaviors is a powerful tool for self-improvement...

Back to the biscuits! The butter turned out divinely, so I will give myself credit for that. Reduced the wine to a thick and pungent syrup, and it mixed quite easily into the softened butter. I made that on wednesday. Saturday morning came, and it was far from my fantasy. I went to a meeting at work at 10:30 a.m. which put a damper on the whole day, and came back to make the biscuits before Mark went to a review for his exam at 2:00. (Thus, no Chautauqua Park, no drinking).

I mixed all the dry ingredients for the biscuits, then realized we only had skim milk! Wondering if I could do part skim, part buttermilk instead of whole, I decided it would work (buttermilk biscuits!?) and threw the milk in, since it was on my mind. I hadn't cut the butter in yet. I was furious with myself, and chocked back tears as I walked to the dumpster and threw it all away. Laying on the grass for a few minutes helped me collect myself and I decided I would give myself a second chance.

But I had no milk! A generous neighbor gave me the called for amount, but he thought I needed buttermilk, and gave me "homemade" buttermilk (skim milk + a little vinegar as an acid to react with the baking powder/soda. I gave it a shot. The butter, by now, was not cold enough to be properly cut in. I denied admitting that to myself, and went ahead. Baked the biscuits for 12 minutes, but they were not even golden yet! I cut one open and the inside looked very doughy.

I probably baked them for a whole 12 minutes more, not even because I forgot about them, I just kept checking and finding them underdone. (I don't bake much--I'm terrible at chemistry, so I probably misevaluated). All of a sudden they were way too done! And dense. Not fluffy at all. Sigh. It was just one of those days.

The ironic part is that Mark can make incredible buttermilk biscuits. I think he even has the recipe memorized. I sucked it up and called them scones, tried to eat them for a few days before they got awfully stale. I was bummed about them for almost a week. I had set such high standards and felt like my dreams were dashed. But, I did take pretty good pictures, at least for an amateur blogger/food photographer. So I decided to share it anyway.

I froze the rest of the butter and plan on having Mark make his recipe for buttermilk biscuits sometime, throwing in the gorgonzola at the end, and giving it a second shot. For the recipe and better pictures of a better outcome, go to http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/12/blue-cheese-biscuits-with-pinot-noir-butter/

Swiss chard, Feta, and Herb soup with Garlic Parmesan Beer Bread!

I had been wanting to try making beer bread for a while, and when I cam across this lovely healthy recipe for swiss chard, feta and herb Soup on BonAppetit.com, I thought, what better bread to pair it with? Beer bread is incredibly simple, it's basically:

3 C flour

1 tbs. baking powder (unless you're using self-rising flour)

1 tsp. salt

~2 tsp. sugar

12 oz beer

I had a 16 oz. can of beer (yes, I used Coors, I'm a poor college student) so I had to measure out half a cup (4 oz) to omit before pouring the remainder on the can in the batter.

I know I look so scientific! I gave Mark the 4 oz of beer to finish, as I was drinking wine...

I looked at many beer bread recipes, all variations of the basic one listed above, and ended up adopting the approach of using 1/4 C (I added an extra 1/8 C) melted butter, separated to pour in the pan before adding the dough and on the dough once it is in the pan.

Because I wanted garlic parmesan, I sauteed some minced garlic in said butter, and mixed more in the dough, along with ~2/3 C parmesan. I threw some parmesan on top of the bread too, about 20 min. before I took it out. Because I was using a bundt cake pan (I had to improvise!!) I wasn't exactly sure of the baking time. It ended up being about 55 min at 350 degrees.

Now, on to the soup! I really wish herbs came pre-stemmed in the grocery store...

After that was done, I sauteed 1 chopped onion and a few cloves garlic in the pan I used for the garlic butter for the beer bread until they were tender. I then added

3.5 cups veggie broth

~12 chopped asparagus

1 whole bunch of swiss red chard

~1/2 cups parsley

~1/3 cups cilantro

some fresh mint

...and simmered that for about 15 minutes, until the greens were nice and soft.

Mark is somewhat of an immersion blender fiend, so I granted him the pleasure...

Once the consistency was smooth, we added 1/2 cup plain greek nonfat yogurt (Fagé) and ~1/2 cup feta. Also nutmeg.

Pulled the bundt beer bread out of the oven,

Flipped it over..

And prepared ourselves for a romantic feast (garnished the soup with yogurt, feta and herbs...)

Really though, we blew out those candles after we finished taking pictures and watched Lost on my laptop while we ate soup-doused beer bread... drinking Bud Light Platinum 3.5% (him), which we accidentally bought at the grocery store (they can't sell the 6% version) and cheap pinot noir (me) that I had bought for the bleu cheese biscuit with pinot noir infused butter recipe I am saving for Friday.

I honestly didn't know if I would like pinot noir, but like pinot grigio, (they can't be that different, right? doesn't pinot indicate how it is made and the noir/grigio just indicate the color of the grape?) and love merlot and was secretly hoping it wold taste just like it. Turns out, I loved it. Not too different from merlot or pinot grigio--it's almost like their lovechild. Wine snobs, don't hate me for saying that. I am but an amateur. Everyone else, don't worry, I still have a cup and a half of it to make infused butter.

Soup verdict? Good! Pretty mild, considering it's basically all nutrient packed veggies you'd expect to be bitter. Good dip for bread. Could use some extra salt/nutmeg/maybe even spicy.

As for the beer bread, the parmesan-y top (well, bottom) crust was the best. Didn't taste the Coors at all, (no surprise) and is fairly dense (also no surprise as it didn't rise before baking.) Pretty darn good though! Again, for dipping. They were like a match made in heaven. Next time I would try a more distinguished beer.

Dinner and Dessert Crepes!

If I was ever held at gunpoint and told I had to choose between eating sweet or savory crepes for the rest of my life, I'm not confident I could do so. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, I will continue to indulge in both, preferably in the same day.

Crepes are so simple and easy to make, arguably easier than pancakes. I made the batter for these french crepes the night ahead. According to Alton Brown, whose recipe I found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/crepes-recipe/index.html, letting the batter sit in the fridge for anywhere between one and 48 hours helps the bubbles subside and minimizes tearing of the crepes while cooking, though I have used batter right away before and my crepes turned out fine.

This really is a quick meal, I made it on a weeknight. Pouring and flipping all those crepes though, requires the most active time. But you can be cooking the filling at the same time, which for savory crepes is basically meat and/or cheese and/or vegetables, and for sweet is basically fruit and/or dairy and/or sauce/sugar/syrup.

I used up some mushrooms I bought in bulk quantity from Costco for the dinner crepes, along with leftover dolce gorgonzola and garlic. Crepes really have a unique texture, they are so thin and spongy! They can be rolled, folded, or layered flat with the filling, to kind of make a crepe cake.

I had strawberries that needed to be used up (also from Costco) and sliced and simmered those with some fresh lemon juice and sugar for dessert, complemented by a dollop of vanilla yogurt and a dash of powdered sugar.

BL(ea)Ts: BLTs with fried Egg and Avocado

Bacon. Everybody loves it. I do too, but only as of late (gasp! I know).

I wasn't fed it much as a kid by my health-nut mother, who despite that fact, is a good cook and taught me much of my appreciation for food. I was irrationally afraid of it's fat content in high school. After that, the texture made me squeamish. But I always loved the way it smells. And recently, I have been falling in love with how it tastes.

This may have been the second or third BLT I have ever eaten. It was the first I've ever made. As I ate it, I could have sworn I'd died and gone to heaven.

The not-so-secret strategy I discovered online (thank you Mr.BaconPants) really tied the BLT together... or rather wove it together. The Bacon Weave.

It is as fun as it looks to assemble, you can have as many rows of bacon as you want. Keep in mind though, it does shrink significantly while it cooks, so start out with an area bigger than your bread. I baked it at 375 for about 20 minutes total, checking occasionally and flipping once.

Meanwhile, I prepped the lettuce, tomato, and avocado, and toasted both sides of my bread. (Sourdough is the obvious choice here, in my humble opinion.)

I melted pepperjack AND cheddar on one piece of bread (one half of the sandwich) by sticking it on the oven rack below the bacon for a few minutes, and dressed the other side with my personal ingenious spread/dip creation:

WING SAUCE + GOAT CHEESE

When the bacon was done, I drained it on some paper towels and in the meantime fried up two eggs. Flipping them to make sure the whites were cooked, I kept the yolks runny like I like them. A little S & P, and these babies were ready to be lanced and ooze all over a stacked BLT.

And finally, the moment of truth: the assembly. Really quite a personal moment, the "right" order is a subjective thing. No formula is necessary, though I usually consider the stability of the stack. My stack:

1.) Toast with goat cheese-wing sauce spread

2.) Bacon Weave

3.) Avocado

4.) Tomato

5.) Fried Egg

6.) Butter Lettuce

7.) Toast with melted cheddar/pepprjack

Served it up with a side of pickles/pickled okra!