Looking for Suggestions!

Here at Chattavore, I am always trying to think of new things to blog about.  I want to keep my posts to things that people may find interesting...I'd love to encourage someone to try something new (like cheese-making!) but you won't see me cooking tripe or anything weird like that.  I try to blog about the things that are already on my menu and the local restaurants that I love or have been dying to try.  That said, if anyone has any recipes that they are dying to decipher, let me know and maybe I can help you out!  If you have anything that you really want to know how to cook but you aren't quite adventurous enough to figure it out on your own....or maybe you'd just like to see it in pictures...let me know!  Also, new restaurant suggestions in the Chattanooga and surrounding area (including N. Georgia, Bradley, Rhea, and even Sequatchie Counties) are welcome.  I have a 3 page (3 columns each!) list....but that's not to say I didn't leave something off!  So, if you have a suggestion, leave me a comment.

Also, I am excited to say that I just got a much better camera and am waiting on a lighting kit and 50 mm lens to arrive today.  I'll also be purchasing a book on food styling and photography....so hopefully I'll be able to put all of these resources together to figure out how to really take some great pictures of the food I cook!

Restaurant Clone: Garlic-Cheddar Biscuits

All right, I don't care if you hate Red Lobster and think that their food is the worst ever (I don't, for the record....my family loves Red Lobster and I grew up eating there on a regular basis.  I like it.) everyone loves their Cheddar Bay Biscuits (if you don't you don't have to tell me I'm wrong.  Just be content in knowing it.).  I remember when they first introduced them.  It was like some sort of epiphany, a little gift from Heaven in the shape of a cheesy, garlicky piece of soft bready goodness.  If Red Lobster ever decided to discontinue the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, they'd have to just go ahead and close their doors, because even their most devoted fans would commit mutiny.  Or so I hypothesize.  But I digress.....

Now, I am sure that many of you have attempted to make these biscuits at home.  For many years, I did too, with my trusty Bisquick biscuit recipe (from the back of the box).  I was disappointed every time (sorry, Bisquick.  It's true).  There was just something missing!  A few years ago, however, I found the book Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur, and everything changed.  If you have never bought any of Todd's Top Secret Recipes books, I encourage you to do so (his website is great, too)!  He has spent years unraveling favorite brand name and restaurant recipes.  He has a whole series of books, and they're just fantastic.

So, back to Top Secret Restaurant Recipes.  This book included many great recipes, including Waffle House waffles (Philip was especially excited about these), P.F. Chang's Chicken & Lettuce Wraps, and Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits.  Todd used Bisquick, indeed....but he didn't stop there, adding butter to amp up the richness a bit.  I am not replicating his recipe exactly-my recipe is "lightened up" a bit, and cut in half since the two of us don't eat that much.  But here's my tribute to Todd's recipe....

The original recipe calls for the oven to be preheated to 400 degrees, but I was also making coconut shrimp which called for a temp of 475 degrees, so I compromised and heated it to 450.  I also put my tiny bar pan in.  These are great!  It's the perfect size for my toaster oven, and it's what I use when I'm making biscuits just for the two of us.  Grate 2 oz. of cheddar cheese-this is Cabot 75% Fat-free.  I really do love this stuff.



Now, measure 1 1/4 cups of Bisquick into a bowl.  This is the heart-healthy kind.  I don't use mixes much, but Bisquick really does work in this recipe.  Sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.  Next, cut 2 tablespoons of light butter (I use Land O'Lakes) into small cubes (Make sure that the butter is cold, and for the love of all that is good and holy, DON'T USE SYNTHETIC BUTTER MARGARINE.  Don't even bring it into your house.  I cannot stress this enough!) and put the butter into the Bisquick, then work it in with the tips of your fingers, leaving some small bits but mostly incorporating it.





Dump the cheddar on top of the butter and Bisquick mixture.  Now, measure 6 tablespoons of milk (that's half of 3/4 cup) into the bowl, and mix everything together with a fork until it forms a ball.  Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it, then spoon it about 1/4 cup at a time onto the pan you will be using to bake.  I used a 1/4 cup cookie scoop.  If you are baking at the higher temp like I did, you will only need to bake them for about 12-13 minutes, but if you are baking at the recommended 400 degrees, they will need to bake for 15-17 minutes.





When the biscuits are done, mix together a tablespoon of melted butter and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.  I just used my silicone brush to mix them together, then brush the tops with the butter-garlic mixture...and voila!  Fantastic, garlic-cheddar biscuit knock-offs!  And you came make them in your pjs, without having to wait for a table.  What more could you ask?

Restaurant Clone: Coconut Shrimp

On Friday, I posted a recipe for clones of Red Lobster's garlic-cheddar biscuits.  Another thing that I love from Red Lobster's menu is coconut shrimp, but it's fairly expensive so I really don't order it often when I go there.  They do have something called "shrimp your way" on their menu, which allows you to choose two or three shrimp items from the menu, including coconut shrimp "bites", so occasionally I get those, but more often, I like to make my own coconut shrimp at home!  I can buy good quality, U.S. wild-caught shrimp for both myself and Philip for about the same price of one of the least expensive lunch items on the Red Lobster menu....this is why we rarely eat out.  We are constantly reminding ourselves of how well we can eat at home for so much less than we can eat at a restaurant.....

So, I got a half-pound of wild-caught Key West pink shrimp from Greenlife.  If you didn't know, Greenlife is actually on Greenpeace's list of best places to buy sustainable seafood, although now that they are really Whole Foods, I wonder if the score is a little lower.  I try to buy all of my seafood from there, not only for sustainability purposes but because I trust the sources that Greenlife uses to obtain their seafood as far as food safety, mercury levels, etc., go.  Seafood is a tricky business these days.  For more info, go to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch website.  You can download a card there that tells you seafood choices for health and safety as well as sustainability purposes.  I am somewhat of a closet environmentalist.  I feel very strongly about respecting our natural resources, and I try to make food choices that support those resources.  Anyway.....

This recipe is a mash-up of a recipe from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 and Cook Yourself Thin from the Lifetime Network.  Todd's recipe is deep-fried, and I rarely deep-fry anything...in fact, the only reason anything ever gets deep-fried around here is that one of us had a beignet or apple fritter craving.  You can't bake those, you just can't.  It wouldn't be right.  So, I used Todd's breading combination, but followed the baking directions from Cook Yourself Thin.  The results were fantastic!

Before I start the shrimp, I make the dipping sauce.  For 2 servings, put 1/4 cup light sour cream in a bowl.  Add about 1/4 cup of chopped pineapple (I keep pineapple chunks in my freezer and just dice them up while they're still frozen.  See my cute little cutting board?  My aunt bought it for me!), a tablespoon of sugar, and a tablespoon of rum.  This is Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum, and it makes this sauce GOOOOD.  If you don't want to use the rum, just use some pineapple juice.  Now, on to the shrimp....





Of course, I always start by putting my Pampered Chef stoneware bar pan in the oven.  If you don't have one just use a regular baking sheet! Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.



Start by peeling and deveining the shrimp.  These are 26/30 shrimp, which means that there are approximately 26-30 shrimp per pound (okay, technically it means 26-30 tails but doesn't that really just mean 26-30 shrimp?).  26/30s are pretty much medium.  To peel, I cut the shell at the top with kitchen shears, then simply pull the shells off.  I left the tails on for presentation purposes.  I use a paring knife to devein the shrimp; I am pretty obsessive about getting all of the vein, because the vein is actually the shrimp's digestive tract, and that grosses me out.  I run the knife along the top and bottom sides of the shrimp, wiping the knife on a paper towel between swipes.  I usually do this one task at a time: cut all the shrimp; peel all the shrimp; devein all the shrimp-while moving them back and forth between 2 bowls to keep up with which ones I have done and which I haven't.



Now, set up the breading station.  This nifty little snap-together breading station was purchased at a Pampered Chef party for 1/2-price, but you can definitely use some shallow bowls or pie pans.  The first one has 1/2 cup flour; the second two beaten egg whites; the third 1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and 1/2 cup shredded coconut.  I put some salt and pepper into each ingredient.

Now, dip the shrimp on both sides into the flour, then into the egg white, and finally into the panko/coconut mixture.  After breading, I just put the shrimp onto a baking sheet.  This shrimp was just for demonstration purposes; after this one I just put them all into the flour, then the egg, then the panko/coconut.



Now, the oven and baking sheet should be ready.  If you are using a metal baking pan, you will need to spray it.  I, of course, use my Misto, but if you don't have one, nonstick cooking spray will be fine.  If you are using a stoneware pan, you won't need to spray it, but I did spray the side of the shrimp that would be going on the bottom.  Using tongs, transfer the shrimp to the pan and spray the tops.  Put them in the oven for 7 minutes, turn, spray the tops again, and bake for 6 minutes.



Serve these with your fantastic pineapple sauce. It's restaurant food at home!

Sunday Morning Breakfast: Irish Oatmeal

A while back, I posted a Saturday morning breakfast post in which I made biscuits and gravy for one.  That's a pretty typical Saturday morning breakfast in the Chattavore house.  Biscuits and gravy, pancakes, homemade waffles, French toast, and the occasional eggs Benedict or breakfast burrito are what's on the menu on Saturday morning, when we have all the time in the world.  We can get up and take our time getting breakfast ready, because we usually have nowhere to be and can leave the house whenever we want.

Sundays are a different story.  Philip is on the worship team at our church, and the majority of Sunday mornings he is out of the house by 8:30.  When he isn't, we sleep in a little and get to church by 10:30, so still...not an unlimited amount of time.  So, our typical Sunday morning breakfast is Irish oatmeal.

I am not a huge fan of regular old-fashioned or rolled oats.  They are just a little too mushy or gummy for me, no matter how I cook them or what I put in them.  They never work for me.  Irish oatmeal, on the other hand, is a little chewy without being gummy.  If you have never had Irish oatmeal, it looks very different from the oatmeal that comes in the little cardboard cylinders at the grocery store.  I am honestly not sure if Bi-lo even sells slow-cooking Irish oats....I know they sell a quick-cooking version, but we all know those have less nutritional value than their slower-cooking counterpart.  Publix does sell them, but they are fairly expensive.  The way to do this is to buy the Irish oats in the bulk bin at Greenlife.  I can't think of the price off the top of my head, but it's less than $2.00 per pound.  We bought a canister of McCann's a long time ago and just keep filling it up from the bulk bin.  Bulk bins are a wonderful thing.  If you have never shopped from a bulk bin, I encourage you to go to Greenlife or Earth Fare (or if you don't live in Chattanooga, Whole Foods or whatever natural or organic grocery store is nearest to you) and try it.  All grocery stores should have bulk bins.  Let's start a movement!

Anyway, back to what I was saying before.  You are not likely to recognize Irish oats as oatmeal if you have never seen them before.  They are tiny little pebbles, about the size of grape nuts.  They are cut, rather than pressed like regular (or rolled) oats are.  The "rolled" means that the oats have been rolled in a press.  That's all.  Irish oats are also known as "pinhead" oats, I guess because they are about the size of a pin head, and that's what I like to call them because I think of this guy and that makes me laugh.



Irish oats take longer than old-fashioned oats, and certainly a lot longer than instant, but with a little forethought it's totally worth it.  The recipe here serves two, but is easily multiplied to make as many servings as you need.  You are going to want to start the night before if you want to follow my directions here, although it can be made from start to finish in the morning....it just takes a lot longer (25-30 minutes).

Start by boiling two cups of water.  Once the water boils, stir in 2/3 cup of pinhead (hahahaha) oats and turn the heat off.  Put the lid on the pan, and leave it to sit overnight.  By the way, if you buy the canister of McCann's it tells you to use 1/2 cup of oats to every 2 cups of water, but I like the thickness that the extra little bit gives.



In the morning, remove the lid.  You can see that the oats have changed drastically.  Technically, you could heat this just till it's warm enough to eat and go with it, but there a little too much liquid in there for me, so I take a little extra time to cook these a little longer.  If you want to do it my way, turn the heat to medium.  Stir frequently.  The oats will eventually come to a simmer; just cook and stir until they reach a consistency that you like.



In the meantime, chop up some pecans.  I like to keep bags of pecans in my freezer so I always have them on hand.  Heat a skillet over medium heat and throw in the chopped pecans.  Cook and stir these until they are lightly browned and fragrant (don't you love my fancy words?  I'm so elegant.).  Watch these closely or they'll burn before you know it!

Once the oats have reached the consistency you want and the nuts have toasted sufficiently, pour the nuts into the oats.  Add some half and half or milk (we like to go for the gusto around here-the McCann's canister says the traditional way to eat them is with buttermilk but in my house buttermilk is for baking and that's about it), brown sugar or maple syrup, a good pinch of salt, and any other seasoning you like.  We add dried cranberries or dried cherries, and I like to put about 1/4 of a teaspoon of orange extract in mine.  Philip leaves the orange out.....but it's gooooooood.





And that's how Sunday morning breakfast is done around here!