Garlic and Herb Compound Butter…

July 9, 2020youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

A while back I had an out of town guest and I decided to make a special dinner for her, steak and lobster. I have a lobster recipe on this blog entitled Quick And Easy Lobster Tails, and as for the filet that recipe is yet to be posted. My guest turned me on to something that took the steak we had over the top. She mentioned that one of her favorite restaurants is Ruth Chris Steak House and said when they serve steaks they top them with a compound butter. I never tried that before but I can tell you if you want to be in steak heaven just put a pat of this compound butter on your next steak and you’ll never go back to plain old steak again!

This recipe couldn’t be any simpler and the flavor of this butter is a garlicky and herb heaven. The hardest part of the recipe is waiting for the butter to soften to room temperature. Then you simply add all the ingredients, mix, roll a log, refrigerate and serve once it’s firm again.

So lets talk garlic and herb compound butter…

Lesson Learned 1 – The butter must be room temperature soft: This means the butter must be mushy. The only way you’ll be able to evenly incorporate the ingredients is by making sure the butter is completely soft. You want the ingredients to be evenly incorporated throughout the butter as there is a lot of garlic in this recipe and you don’t want to wind up with big pockets of garlic and very little herbs.

Lesson Learned 2 – Don’t add any salt to this recipe: I recommend using salted butter for this recipe so there is no need to add any additional salt. If you add salt it may become overpowering. If you want to add some heat to this butter add some cracked black pepper or a very small amount of red pepper flakes but don’t overdo.

Lesson Learned 3 – This compound butter can be used in a variety of ways: Not only will this compound butter give you the most delicious steak you’ve ever tasted but it is fabulous for making garlic bread or putting on a baked potato. If you plan on doing a vegetable saute you can use this butter instead of an oil and it will wildly enhance the flavor of the veggies. Or just steam your veggies and put a pat of this butter on top.

Lesson Learned 4 – Don’t make this butter if you don’t like garlic: This butter has a healthy dose of grated garlic in it and the flavor is very robust. If you don’t like garlic you won’t like this compound butter. I recommend using fresh cloves of garlic and a grater to process the garlic. Grating fresh garlic, in my estimation, allows the full garlic flavor to shine through.

Lesson Learned 5 – The ingredient amounts in the recipe are a guideline: The beauty of this butter is that you can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. If you don’t want the butter quite as garlicky then use a little less. If you want a little more flat leaf parsley, feel free to add it. When I make this butter I normally just eyeball what I put in always erring on a little less until I mix everything together and see what I’ve got. The flavor combinations are really all up to you.

And that’s it. I am originally from Chicago and there was an Italian restaurant on the North Side that made the best garlic bread. Since moving away from Chicago I have not been able to find anything close to that garlic bread – until now! This butter slathered on top of a sliced baguette and baked in the oven (I bake it in my toaster oven) is simply divine. And when I pull this bread out of the oven I take some more of the butter and let it melt on top of the warm bread. I guarantee you it will be garlic bread heaven!

So try this compound butter and let me know what you think. These days I am never without a stick of it in my refrigerator!

Garlic And Herb Compound Butter...

Servings: 10-12
Time: 10 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

1 stick softened salted butter

4-5 medium cloves of garlic, grated

1 Generous TB chopped chives,

1 Generous tsp. chopped flat leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Place softened butter in the center of a piece of clear plastic wrap. Fold one side of the plastic wrap over the butter and roll the butter back and forth until it forms a log. Use the remaining plastic wrap to completely seal the rolled log. Chill until firm. Serve with steak, on bake potatoes, or garlic bread. Actually the possibilities are endless.

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken…

February 4, 2020youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

I saw a version of this recipe online and it intrigued me. First of all I love my slow cooker. It has become a more versatile tool than it was years ago when you’d put in some meat and veggies, make some concoction usually comprised of some sort of cream soup and let it cook for hours until you had a tasteless soggy mess. Slow cookers can produce some great meals but you have to know how to use them. And just like your oven, no two brands of slow cookers are alike so you need to know your slow cooker.

I have two All-Clad slow cookers, a 7 quart and a 5 quart. For smaller meals when I cook for one or two I prefer the 5 quart, plus it has the versatility of browning food in its own sleeve which is very convenient. I find the All-Clad slow cookers to have a nice moderate temperature. Some slow cookers boil your food, even on low. I don’t find that to be the case with mine. I get a nice even slow cooking process and so if I gauge my cooking times correctly I do not wind up with dried out tasteless food.

Enough about slow cookers, let’s talk about slow cooker lemon garlic butter chicken…

Lesson Learned 1 – Recipes are designed to be guides, not gospel: The instructor in one of my more recent cooking classes said this and it really struck home with me. When you are making something savory, make the recipe your own. You don’t have to follow the recipe exactly ingredient by ingredient. Now mind you, this is not the case when you’re baking – you need to be precise with those recipes. But savory recipes can take on a life of their own depending upon your likes and dislikes. So feel free to experiment. Some of my most popular recipes were a result of doing just that.

The version I worked from called for 1/3 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I did not want the heat so I eliminated that ingredient. I also added less butter and more lemon zest than recommended in the recipe and I added some carrots to the slow cooker which served as a base for the chicken thighs.

Lesson Learned 2 – Avoid the common mistake of long cooking times with your slow cooker: This is all a part of knowing your slow cooker as I mentioned above. I find, mostly where chicken recipes are concerned, that slow cooker recipes have cooking times that are too long. The recipe that I based this on called for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. I cooked my chicken for 5 hours on low and the result was perfect. Normally with beef recipes I find the recommended cooking times to be more accurate. But be careful with chicken in a slow cooker. You can really dry it out by cooking it too long. If you’re not sure if your chicken is done take its internal temperature. The safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165 degrees.

Lesson Learned 3 – Yes, you must brown your chicken first to get it to look like my pictures: The one drawback of a slow cooker is that it does not brown meat when it is slow cooking. The good news is there are now slow cookers on the market where you can brown your meat in its own sleeve and place the sleeve back in the slow cooker to finish the rest. These slow cookers tend to be a little more expensive but are a great convenience.

I browned my chicken thighs for about 4 minutes with the skin side down. I just browned them on one side and drained them on paper towels before adding them to the slow cooker. Some people don’t care if their meat looks grey and skip the browning process. But it you want your chicken thighs to look like mine, you’ll need to brown them first.

Lesson Learned 4 – I prefer using chicken thighs in a slow cooker: I find chicken thighs to be more forgiving, especially if you overcook them in a slow cooker. So if you feel it absolutely necessary to cook them for 6 hours on low use chicken thighs. The result will be much better.

Lesson Learned 5 – Slice the garlic in thin slices and place the slices on top of the chicken: I found that to be the best way to infuse the garlic into the meat. If you want you can also put some garlic slices under the meat as well. Once the chicken was done I removed the garlic slices and disposed of them. But you can serve them as well. I’m just not a big fan of eating garlic that way. You can also just mince the garlic and sprinkle it on top of the chicken. The choice is yours.

Lesson Learned 6 – Baste the chicken in the drippings before serving: This recipe makes a great lemon butter sauce. Baste the chicken thighs in that sauce before plating them. You’ll be glad you did.

And that’s it. This is a very basic recipe with a minimal amount of ingredients. You can skip adding the carrots if you want, or you can add some onions under the chicken as well. The choice is yours. I definitely enjoyed this recipe and will make it again. Let me know what you think!

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken...

Servings: 2-4
Time: 5 1/2 Hours Including Prep
Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken thighs with skin on

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

4 garlic cloves sliced thin

1/2 stick of butter diced

The zest of one medium size lemon (or two small)

The juice of one medium size lemon (or two small)

1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish, optional

Lemon slices for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a pan on the stove. Brown the chicken thighs skin side down for approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove the chicken thighs and drain on a paper towel. Set them aside.

Place carrots in the bottom of the slow cooker. Combine the chicken broth, lemon juice and zest. Place thighs on top of the carrots and pour the chicken broth mixture over them.

In a small bowl combine the Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the chicken thighs. Top them with the garlic and dot them with the diced butter.

Cook on low for 5 hours. Baste the chicken thighs with the lemon butter sauce before removing them from the slow cooker. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.

Spud Pockets…

July 29, 2016youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

A friend of mine, who is a professional chef, once said that when it comes to great recipes the simpler the better. Ain’t that the truth. Over the course of the past six weeks my husband and I have been in the midst of a sell/buy process, selling our home of 15 years and downsizing to a condo. With downsizing comes a myriad of emotions but in the end it is quite cathartic as well as hugely stressful.

During this time I’ve not had the opportunity to uphold my goal of one new recipe a week, but I am back in the swing and will definitely try to post regularly, although I still cannot guarantee once a week. I do promise to get back to my routine, I just can’t determine when as of yet.

So, getting back to simpler is better, as you can imagine during a process like this you resort to very basic and quick meals. Often meals consisted of “eating out” but that gets to be a bit much after a while as well. So my challenge was to try to figure out how to make something fast but not just the same old thing. So I did a little experimentation with this recipe and my husband loved it. So let’s talk spud pockets…

Lesson Learned 1 – Simple is always the best: This recipe couldn’t be any simpler – potatoes, green onion, heavy cream, butter, fresh chopped parsley – that’s it! You could add some smoked paprika for additional color and flavor, but I haven’t unpacked my herbs and spices yet so I had to forgo the paprika. You would not believe how tender and flavorful the potatoes turn out.

Lesson Learned 2 – Use whatever kind of potatoes you have on hand: When I went to the grocery store the red potatoes looked fantastic. So instead of using a russet potato I used red potatoes. I liked the fact that the skin added some nice color to the dish as well.

Lesson Learned 3 – Keep the potatoes in the oven longer if you want crispy bottoms: I made these potatoes two days in the row. The first day I kept the potatoes in the oven for 50 minutes, the second day for 65. Keeping them in for 65 minutes gave them a nice crispy bottom. Make sure you spray your foil with cooking spray to help get them out of the foil pocket. Even with the spray you may have to scrape a few out, but that nice crunch on the bottom of the potato is well worth it.

Lesson Learned 4 – Use two sheets of foil so the pocket is reinforced: – I took two sheets of foil and placed one sheet on top of the other. Then I put the potato mixture in the center, crimped the two longer ends together and rolled the smaller sides upward. There was no leaking in the oven this way. And the smells that came out of the oven were divine!

Lesson Learned 5 – This is a very economical recipe: One large red potato is more than enough for two people. I happened to have some heavy cream in the refrigerator so I used that. You could use milk or half and half, but the heavy cream really gives more depth of flavor. One bundle of green onions made four pockets and you only need a small dollop of butter on top of each. I had a small bundle of fresh parsley and I used only about a quarter of it for four servings. A little goes a long way.

I’m telling you this recipe could not be any easier. You just chop the potatoes into half inch cubes, dice the green onions (use the green parts too) and parsley. Combine them all together, put the potatoes on a piece of reinforced foil (I used two sheets of foil), add a dollop of butter, a splash of heavy cream, some salt and pepper and that’s it! If you want a quick recipe that is sure to please, this is the one for you. You can also serve these rustic style right in the foil. Either way this is an easy go-to recipe. Enjoy!

SPUD POCKETS...

Servings: 4
Time: 45-65 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

2 large potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 bundle of green onions, chopped

4 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

8 Tbs. heavy cream, 1-2 per pocket

2 Tbs. butter, 1/2 Tbs. per pocket

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Light sprinkle of smokey paprika per pocket, optional

Olive oil cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine the cubed potatoes, onions and parsley. Evenly distribute the mixture onto reinforced aluminum foil (two sheets, one on top of the other, per pocket- make sure to spray the foil with cooking spray first). Pull the sides up on the foil. Splash heavy cream over the potatoes. Put a pat of butter over each bundle. Close the foil by taking the large ends together and turning them over on each other to crimp them. Then pull up each smaller side and crimp the foil upward and toward the center of the bundle.

Bake for 45-65 minutes (you will get nice crispy bottoms if you cook them for 65 minutes). Remove the potatoes from the foil packet and serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: Filet of beef with steamed vegetables and spud pockets.

Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots…

February 23, 2016youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

This recipe could not be any more basic but it produces a side dish rich in flavor. Whenever you caramelize something it produces a sweetness that is awesomely delicious. And because this blog is dedicated to those beginning to feel their way around the kitchen, this recipe is perfect because it produces spectacular results with very little effort. If you’re looking for something to boost your confidence in the kitchen, this one’s is for you!

So let’s talk garlic butter roasted carrots…

Lesson Learned 1 – Use lots of garlic: I used 4 big cloves of garlic in this recipe and you can even add more if you want. Just be aware that the garlic will turn dark in the oven but that’s ok. It will still infuse the carrots with great garlic flavor.

Saute the cloves in the butter for a good 3-4 minutes and just when you start to see some slight browning on the edges, remove the mixture from the heat and pour it over the carrots. Make sure the carrots are evenly coated with the butter/garlic mixture. Use your hands if you have to to make sure they’re coated all over.

Lesson Learned 2 – Cut the carrots in one inch chunks on the diagonal: One inch chunks work well for this roasting time. Cutting them on the diagonal makes them look prettier.

Lesson Learned 3 – Make sure you flip the carrots during the roasting process: You want to make sure the carrots caramelize on all sides so check them after 15-20 minutes and flip them over so the other side can caramelize as well.

When I first took these carrots out of the oven I thought perhaps I had browned them too much. I was wrong. These carrots had such a wonderful sweet flavor and the darkened areas were rich and sweet. The main thing to remember is to flip them so they caramelize on both sides.

I have to say I could not believe how sweet and delicious these carrots were. This is a great recipe for when you want to impress but also want something insanely easy. Enjoy!

Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots

Servings: 4-6
Time: 50 Minutes Including Prep
Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

4-6 large carrots, cut in 1 inch lengths on the diagonal

5 Tbs. butter

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Flat leaf parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 3 – 4 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic.

Put the carrots in a large bowl and add the butter/garlic mixture. Toss until all the carrots are completely covered.

Spread the carrots out on a prepared baking sheet (I covered my sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed it lightly with olive oil cooking spray), making sure they are not crowded and that all the butter/garlic mixture is poured onto the sheet.

Roast for 30 – 40 minutes making sure to flip them half way through the roasting process. Remove the carrots from oven and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with flat leaf parsley and serve. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Cake…

August 31, 2015January 18, 2017youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

I like to dabble with baking, trying new and interesting ways of creating sweet delectable treats. And let me tell you, where that’s concerned this recipe takes the cake (pun intended)! Every bite of this cake tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll. It is unbelievably good. I took some of this to work and one of my co-workers said it was an absolutely wicked treat. You must try this one.

So let’s talk about making this cake..

Lesson Learned 1 – The ingredients for the cake are a bit untraditional: Most cake recipes use a combination of baking soda and baking powder, usually a teaspoonful or less of each, as leavening agents for the batter. This particular cake recipe uses 4 teaspoons of baking powder and no baking soda. It seems like a lot of baking powder, but what that amount actually does is create a yeasty bread-like quality for the cake. You can see in the picture below the bubbles created by using the large amount of baking powder. It was interesting to see its affect on the batter. And when you think about it, cinnamon rolls tend to have a texture that’s more like bread than cake, so using the larger amount of baking powder to create that consistency makes sense.

Another somewhat non traditional aspect to making the batter is adding the melted butter. Once you’ve combined all the ingredients together, you slowly add the melted butter into the batter. It is important to add it slowly so that the butter fully incorporates. I poured a little in at a time, mixed it in, and repeated that process until all the melted butter was fully incorporated into the batter. It gave the batter the luxurious consistency you see below.

Before adding the melted butter the cake batter will look a little lumpy. As you slowly add the melted butter the lumps will disappear.

Lesson Learned 2 – The cinnamon topping will be thick in consistency: A lot of cinnamon cake recipes have more of a streusel-like mixture that you incorporate into cake batter. The topping for this cake is thicker and more frosting-like as you can see from the picture below.

When preparing this mixture it’s very important the butter be as soft as possible without melting it. I put the butter in the microwave and kept nuking it in 10 second increments until it was slightly runny along the edges. You can see from the picture below how soft the butter was before I mixed it with the other topping ingredients.

Lesson Learned 3 – How to combine the cinnamon and cake batter: Many recipes similar to this require sprinkling the topping on the batter and using a knife to swirl it down into the cake. You don’t need to do that with this recipe. All you need to do is dollop the cinnamon mixture on top and use a knife and spread it around. The cinnamon will permeate the batter while it bakes. Try to spread the mixture as close to the edges as possible. That way the end pieces will have some cinnamon in them as well.

Lesson Learned 4 – Add the glaze when the cake is still warm: Most of the time you wait for a cake to cool before you add glaze. With this recipe you add the glaze while the cake is still slightly warm. That way it seeps into the cake as well as stays on top. I prefer to make thicker glazes for this type of recipe so I combine heavy cream and milk with the vanilla and powdered sugar to get a rich, thick glaze.

I hope you decide to try this recipe. It is sinfully delicious and keeps well in an air tight container. I got two thumbs up on this on this one from my co-workers and my husband!

Cinnamon Roll Cake…

Servings: 20-24 Squares
Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Including Prep
Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

CAKE BATTER:

3 cups flour (plus 2 Tbs. high altitude)

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar (7/8 cup high altitude)

1 1/2 cups milk

3 tsp. vanilla extract

2 extra large eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted.

CINNAMON TOPPING MIXTURE:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tbs. flour

2 heaping Tbs. cinnamon

1 cup very soft butter

GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 Tbs. heavy cream

2-3 Tbs. Milk

1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all of the ingredients for the cinnamon topping and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the cake batter ingredients except the melted butter. After everything is combined, slowly add the melted butter in small amounts making sure it is thoroughly combined before adding more. Continue with this process until all of the melted butter is incorporated into the batter.

Spray a 9 x 13 dish with cooking spray. Add the batter to the dish and smooth until evenly distributed. Dollop portions of the cinnamon mixture on top of the batter. Using a smooth edged knife, swirl the cinnamon mixture all over the top of the batter getting the mixture as close to the edges of the pan as possible.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Mix together all of the glaze ingredients. While the cake is still slightly warm, pour the glaze all over the top of the cake. The cake keeps best when stored in an airtight container.