Cheesy Polenta with Sautéed Mushrooms

Polenta is relatively new to me in that I always assumed cream of wheat, grits and basically any kind of stone-ground meal were the same. Isn't it all porridge? I guess the actual differences lay in where the wheat or corn is from and where it's being served. Whatever the case, I'm calling this polenta!


I love the heartiness mushrooms can give any dish, and it seems mushrooms and polenta go together like, well, mushrooms and polenta. The mushroom selection at my grocery store was limited so I picked up shiitake and a medley of button and oyster (which I can barely look at because they gross me out so much visually). Any kind will do, so choose mushrooms at your own discretion!

Usually I don't fuss over fresh herbs when cooking but I'll say this polenta was all the better for it. If you're like me and can never use your basil (or anything) before it browns, try grabbing those single serving $1 containers if your store has them.


I poached eggs during the polenta's 10-minute cooking/stirring intervals. Dedicating 4 minutes per egg and allowing them to cool until everything was ready to be served.

I had never properly poached an egg before this! I was always too afraid and relished in the safety of my poaching pods. It was so awesome to watch the egg dance in the swirling vinegar water à la Smitten Kitchen's instructions.


This isn't at all difficult to make, or too time-consuming for that matter. It's also kind of perfect for any meal. It can be a hearty brunch, a savory dinner, and leftovers warm up nicely the next day thanks to all the cream and cheese. It's so delicious!


Sautéed Mushrooms
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 shallot, chopped
16 oz mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
6 oz white wine
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Over medium-high heat, cook rosemary in olive oil for 2 minutes. Remove rosemary and discard, add shallots. Cook shallots until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté for 8 minutes. Stir in white wine, bring to a simmer for 6 minutes. Stir in red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Cheesy Polenta
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
32 oz stock (or water)
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
8 oz corn grits/polenta
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 cup shredded Fontina
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced chives
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Over medium-high heat, sauté onions in olive oil in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in stock and bring to a boil, add oregano and basil. Pour in polenta while whisking. Turn down heat to low and continue whisking until polenta thickens. Cover polenta and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Stir in heavy cream, cheeses, and butter and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with mushrooms and chives.


Serving the cheesy polenta with sautéed mushrooms topped with poached eggs was a GREAT decision. The last time I made this dish I served it with fish, so I wanted there to be a little something more to it and gooey yolks are great on everything! Even under piles of more cheese.

My Own Personal Cinnabon

I couldn't tell you when I ate my last cinnamon roll but chances are it was from Cinnabon at a rest stop years ago. How tragic. Once the craving came on the desire to bake was basically intolerable (I'm only half-joking). I found a quick and easy recipe for Baby Cinnamon Buns using a canned Pillsbury Crescent Seamless Dough sheet and figured I'd give it a shot.

Luckily I had everything else the recipe called for on-hand: butter, sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, powdered sugar, and a little milk. Easy!

All of the brown sugar and a good chunk of the butter which was reserved for the bottom of the pie plate made for a nice gooey crust, though the butter separated a bit too quickly for my liking.

The resulting sticky sweet rolls totally hit the spot but I couldn't help wondering what could have been. I'm dramatic, what can I say? Having never made cinnamon rolls before this, I was determined to make the dough myself. With so many recipes out there, it was a tough choice but I narrowed it down to three: Smitten Kitchen's Cinnamon Swirl Buns, the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls, and Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. In the end Alton won. Leave it to me to choose the most time consuming recipe of the bunch.

I definitely prefer the abbreviated ingredients for Alton Brown's dough over the 20+ in the Pillsbury Crescent Seamless Dough sheet. Plus, it was a great excuse to use my stand mixer and hook attachment. After kneading the dough and allowing it to rest for two hours, it doubled in size beautifully. I couldn't wait to punch it!

Just look at those adorable puffy swirls!

Rolling out the dough was much easier than I expected considering how springy it was and how bad I normally am at it (my pizzas are almost always oddly-shaped). Once the dough chilled for sixteen hours (yes, 16), I had to wake the yeast up by proofing the rolls with a fancy steam bath for half an hour before baking.

This icing was miles better than the simple powdered sugar and vanilla combination of the first recipe and I doubt I'll ever ice cinnamon rolls with anything else again. What a difference a little cream cheese made!

Two recipes and twenty cinnamon rolls later, and I totally believe making the dough from scratch is 1,000% worth it. The second batch was softer and fluffier with the perfect savory buttery flavor. And WOW, the smell! I can't recommend Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls recipe enough. Try it, your belly will thank you.

All of this cinnamon roll business had my mind naturally wandering off into sticky bun land. I think you can see where this is going...

Biscuit Bake-Off

There will never be a day when I stop loving Red Lobster. In fact, Andrew and I were just there a couple months ago! Naturally, I chowed down on those melt-in-your-mouth mounds of buttery garlic heaven the waiter so graciously bestowed our table with until I was stuffed. Which of course happened before the food we actually ordered got to the table. I assume that's how everyone plays the Red Lobster game, right? At least that's how I've done it since I was a kid!

Last month I was introduced to the prepackaged Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix sold at Sam's Club. It comes with enough powder and herb packets to make a few batches, and it's less than $6. Not bad if you're in a pinch, but you know me—I love making things from scratch.


And there are countless recipes out there, you guys! Like, wow, the people have spoken and clearly we all really love these damn biscuits. A lot. I found tons for sprucing up Bisquick but I opted to pit the prepackaged mix against a fully made-from-scratch recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.


The difference in texture was obvious, but nothing was more recognizable than the smell! The prepackaged mix was completely odorless, while the homemade batch smelled so amazing I wish I could have bottled it.


While the biscuits baked, I prepped the butter toppings for each. The herb packet is where the prepackaged mix really shined. I'm not completely sure what was in it, but BEB's combination of garlic and parsley didn't stand a chance!


Once out of the oven I could see how much the prepackaged mix spread outward whereas the homemade batch rose, as biscuits should (though I'm no drop biscuit expert—these were actually the first ones I've ever made!). So, which was best??

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix
Brown Eyed Baker's Cheddar Bay Biscuits
The Brown Eyed Baker's recipe, hands down! The fantastic biscuits were flaky on the inside and just crispy enough on the outside. And as much as I loved that herb packet, the prepackaged mix was just too doughy to compete. Both were excellent the next day (and the next) after being reheated in the oven. I even made grilled cheese out of them with the leftover cheddar I used in each recipe! We literally have biscuits for days, you guys. It's intense.

Brussels Sprouts Dip

Time for a food post! Truth be told, I haven't been doing much cooking lately... I've been a bit busier than normal with the handful of events I've attended recently, as well as with my trip to New York. So, I figured now is as good a time as any to share this delicious dip I made a little while back. It was to die for and I'll probably make it again tomorrow because the memory of it (plus Andrew's photos) is already making my mouth water.


I originally found the recipe for this dip online which, of course, I can't locate now... Luckily, I revamped it as I went along and my scribblings have been hanging on our fridge ever since!


Before you even introduce any of the creamy/cheesy ingredients into the mix, the Brussels sprouts are totally worth eating. Often times we'll eat them just like that, with shallots and garlic alone, as a side.


Ingredients
16 oz Brussels sprouts, quartered
2 shallots, thinly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz sour cream
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded Gruyère
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions
1. Over medium heat, cook shallots and garlic in a cast iron skillet for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add Brussels sprouts, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and cook till bright green - up to 7 minutes if you like your greens a lightly charred (like me).
3. Combine sour cream and cheeses in a mixing bowl, add additional salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Add Brussels sprouts and shallots to the bowl and mix.
4. Scoop dip back into the skillet and bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned on top - you can also stick it in your broiler for an additional minute or two.
5. Serve with tortilla chips!


It was so deliciously creamy and you know I'm all about creamy-cheesy goodness. I promise we eat more veggies than just Brussels sprouts. We just love them so much!

French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Did you read that title and immediately think “uh...?” while salivating a bit? Because that was basically my reaction when I found out about these sandwiches. We are very pro-grilled cheese in this house so any and all twists are welcomed! There are quite a number of recipes out there for this particular sandwich but it's so simple, you really don't need one.


Take just about everything you'd use to make french onion soup but rearrange things a bit. Caramelize two medium onions in butter and oil, sugar, thyme, and white wine or broth, grate some delicious Swiss gruyère, spread lots o' butter on thick slices of a baguette or, in my case, sourdough and boom, you're in business!


I went to town on these onions but that's because we love super-caramelized onions. Keep an eye on them if you're not too keen on them becoming too brown, you don't want to end up with burned onions!


After letting your bread soak up a good amount of butter, top with the onions and grated cheese. Grating the cheese will help with the melting process, so don't skip that step! It will result in an amazingly gooey sandwich.


I combined and modified these two recipes from Tasty Kitchen and Portuguese Girl Cooks to come up with the above. I strongly suggest you make these. STRONGLY!

For the Love of Sprouts

When I was a kid I never ever ate Brussels sprouts, but not because I thought they were awful, my mom just never cooked them. I'm not entirely sure if that's a Latin@ thing or what... I do remember picking one up at the grocery store once and peeling each leaf off while my mom pushed our cart (she had no idea I was doing this (lol)), and that's my entire history with the tiny cabbage.

Imagine my surprise when I saw unpicked Brussels sprouts at Trader Joe's! Both cute and terrifying on their stalks. Lots of little things gross me out often times.

(Photo courtesy of @jozjozjoz)
Last week, I braved through my fear and tested Smitten Kitchen's Dijon-Braised Brussels Sprouts. They were so good I made them again Monday night! I recommend the recipe, hands down, especially because so many recipes call for bacon or bacon fat and I don't eat meat (and maybe you don't either?).

Oh, shallots, how I love youuu. Why do you bring me endless tears? :'(


The sprouts are braised in white wine (I used Yellow Tail Chardonnay) and (veggie!) broth then removed to make a ridiculous sauce with Dijon mustard and cream. I wish I would have made more sauce so the sprouts (I) could've swam in it!


I paired the sprouts with tilapia, our household staple. Normally, I pan fry it with a bit of olive oil, garlic, and onions; instead I broiled it with a lemony concoction of butter, lemon juice, and lots of parmesan. So nice and gooey!


If my mom had cooked Brussels sprouts like these when I was a kid, I'm sure I would have loved them as much as I do now. They're just so rich and full of flavor!

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

The temperature has been dropping rapidly here in Chicago, with lows in the 40s already! Though the start of fall usually has me conflicted, it also means I should always have something baking, naturally. This week I resurrected one of the most delicious cookie recipes I've ever used: François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies. It's been years since I last made them and I don't know why!


The recipe calls for unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, so I opt for Hersey's Special Dark. The darker, the better (and bittererer). It leads to the most awesome mud-like batter ever.


I was thrilled to finally break out my cookie scoop again, it's so cute and I love the perfect little mounds it creates!


These cookies are really easy to make. They're great for when you're feeling lazy but require dessert immediately, like me and Andrew most nights... They're even easier to eat with their shiny, crunchy shell and gooey brownie-like center. Letting them cool is actually the hardest part. Try them yourself!

P.S. Yes, there are three bikes surrounding my teeny tiny island (ikea shelf). They're almost always there, too.