Fresh Herb Butter

I recently had to trim my herb garden as all of my plants had gotten huge.  I find it almost impossible to use all of my fresh herbs.  Considering you can buy an entire plant for about the same price as a container of fresh cut herbs and the fact they are so easy to grow, they are a great value.

A quick and easy way to make use of fresh herbs is by making herb butter.  Herb butters are so simple to make and add another level of “wow” to any dish.  I use fresh herb butters to finish grilled meats, fresh veggies and even mashed potatoes.  Herb butters can be made in small or large batches and keep well in the fridge but can also be frozen.  I’ve never kept herb butter longer than about two weeks in the fridge but that is simply because it never lasts that long.  I’m sure you could store it for longer.  When freezing herb butters I put them in airtight containers pressing a layer of plastic wrap right over the top of the butter to prevent the formation of ice crystals.  They can be frozen for up to 4 months. 

One of my favorite herb butters is fresh sage butter and with just two ingredients, it’s a pretty simple way to dress up any meat-especially grilled pork served with rustic mashed potatoes.

Fresh Sage Butter

2 Tablespoons of Butter, Room Temperature

1 Teaspoon of Chopped Fresh Sage

Place butter and chopped sage into a mini-processor and blend until smooth.  This can also be blended by hand.

The Best Reuben

On our way home from seeing Robert Plant and the SensationalSpace Shifters in Atlanta, we decided to make a short diversion north through Helen, Georgia.  We’ve been to Helen twice before with the last visit being about 10 years ago. 

Helen, Georgia is located in the North Georgia Appalachian Mountains and was once a city in decline.  In the late 1960’s a revitalization effort began recreating the town to represent a Bavarian village.  Every shop, restaurant, and building has the same style exterior.  It’s a quaint little place actually. 

We arrived early and enjoyed sitting on the banks of the Chattahoochee watching people go tubing down the river.  We did that on our last trip and had a good laugh about the water shoes I had gotten my husband.  Instead of buying him proper aqua socks, I bought him shower shoes which he dubbed “aqua flops” because they kept flopping off his feet while we were going down the river.  I always say that travel is about creating experiences and memories and sometimes it’s the little things that you remember most.  Thanks to the aqua flops, we’ll always remember tubing the Chattahoochee.

After walking around a bit (you can walk around all of Helen in a “bit”) and looking at a few restaurant menus, we decided on the Hofer House for lunch.  It was situated in what appeared to be a house at one time.  When you walk in they had a meat counter with lots of fresh German style sausages on the right and a dessert counter filled with German pastries and cakes on the left.  It definitely felt cozy and not like a typical restaurant.

I decided on the Reuben even though I really wanted a plate of German sausages.  The Reuben was their “best seller”.  The origins of the Reuben are sketchy and it’s not a classic German dish but I do love a good Reuben.  It was piled high with corned beef, the bread nicely buttered and toasted, with a little of the sauce and kraut peeking out.  It looked like any other Reuben sandwich.  Looks can be deceiving.  I took one bite and thought, “Wow”.  I took another bite.  And another.  And another.  What was just so good about this Reuben?  So, I started picking my sandwich apart to get to the bottom of it.  The corned beef was good but nothing that stood out.  Ditto with the bread.  Then the sauce.  I tasted the sauce by itself.  It was one of those things where I could taste the homemade.  The same with the kraut-it was tangy but not overly sour and had a light crunch and wasn’t soggy.  That was it.  The homemade sauce and kraut were the secret.  I asked our server if they made those items at the restaurant.  Yes, indeed.

After lunch we headed home with full bellies and tasty new memories.  

Tip of the Week-The Cookie Scoop

So last week I was making Sea-Salted Raspberry Brownie Bombs.  The consistency of the center, which was a Dove Chocolate Discoveries(tm) Truffle Fudge Brownie mixed with raspberry sauce, was really sticky.  Rolling it by hand into a nice ball for dipping in tempered chocolate was out of the question.  

I grabbed one of my favorite portioning tools for assistance-a mini cookie scoop.  I use this all the time for perfect portioning of not only cookies but mini cupcakes as well.  The only problem is that any batter tends to stick somewhat to the inside.  I had the idea to spray it with a little non-stick cooking spray.  It worked like a charm.  Those gooey, fudgy, sticky little balls of goodness fell right out of the scoop onto my tray.  

The only drawback?  There wasn't much brownie stuck to the scoop for licking when I was done.  But hey, it sure made scooping a whole lot sweeter!

Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Fresh Herbs

I love having a fresh herb garden.  There is no simpler way to add a burst of fresh to a dish than with a handful of fresh cut herbs.  They are so simple to grow and so much less expensive than buying them at the store.  Whether as a garnish or a key ingredient, I use something from my herb garden in just about every meal.

When my herbs are getting a bit overgrown, I simply cut them and bundle them into a fresh bouquet for the kitchen.  They look nice and add a wonderful aroma. 

As I was debating what I would have for lunch today, I really had a craving for pasta.  As a kid I used to love bowls of plain cooked pasta.  It was my lunch on many summer days.  Sometimes I would add cheese, but just plain pasta made me a happy kid.  My grandmother used to add a can of diced tomatoes when she made it for me.  Macaroni and tomatoes-so simple but I could eat it by the bowlfuls.  That really takes me back to my childhood and summer vacation. 

I don’t know if I was craving more nostalgia or pasta today, but I had to have a bowl.  After looking thru the fridge and finding some chicken sausage and snipping some fresh herbs, I recreated a childhood favorite for a more refined palette.  To me, food evokes emotion and memories.  This dish certainly took me back today.  Maybe I should take these trips more often. 

Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Fresh Herbs

1 Cup Dried Pasta (elbow or any tubular pasta)

Salt

3 Links Fully Cooked Chicken Sausage

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Clove of Garlic, Minced

1 Tablespoon Minced Onion

1 ½ Cups Fresh Diced Tomatoes

½ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

½ Tbsp. Fresh Oregano

1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil

Cook pasta al dente per package directions.  While pasta cooks heat a large sauté pan to medium heat.  Add oil, sausage, garlic and onion.  Cook until onions are translucent and sausage is warm.  Add diced tomatoes.  Drain pasta and add to chicken.  Add cheese, oregano and basil.  Stir until incorporated and serve hot.

Secrets to Perfect Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Probably the most quintessential pairing of fruit and chocolate known to man is the chocolate covered strawberry. That combination of sweet chocolate and fresh juicy berry is magic in the mouth!

With only two ingredients they seem simple enough to make-dip a strawberry in chocolate and let it harden.  Well, that’s sort of it.  If you dip a strawberry in chocolate by definition you do have a chocolate covered strawberry.   But making a really good one, takes just a little more than that.  The effort is worth every chocolate covered juicy bite.

The first secret, which really shouldn’t be a secret, is to start with the best ingredients.  Get good chocolate.  What is good chocolate?  Good chocolate is made with cocoa butter.  Many of the commercial dipping “chocolates” on the market are not chocolate at all and are made of oil.  Reading labels and looking for cocoa butter on the label is important.  Get good strawberries.  They should be fresh and fully ripened but still firm. 

Secret number two, take the time to temper your chocolate.  The end result will be a strawberry with a nice shiny gloss and snap when you bite into it.  What is tempering?  It is melting the chocolate then cooling it to a specific temperature at which the cocoa butter crystals will re-solidify nice and hard giving it that gloss and snap.  Improperly tempered chocolate will be soft and dull.  There are a few ways to temper with the easiest being with a tempering machine.  But a great article on how to temper by hand can be found here:  http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Tempering-Chocolate/Detail.aspx.

I’ve had folks tell me they tried to make chocolate covered strawberries and after they dipped a couple of berries the chocolate got clumpy.  That brings me to secret number three.  Melted chocolate and moisture do not mix!  Any excess liquid from the berries or utensils will cause the chocolate to seize rendering it useless for dipping.  Tempering will not bring back seized chocolate.  You must throw it out.  Or eat it, immediately.  Strawberries should be room temperature before dipping.  Cold berries can bring your chocolate out of temper or cause it to firm up before you are finished dipping. 

Lastly, let your dipped berries firm up at room temperature.  They will develop condensation if stored for too long in the fridge.  For that reason it is best to make them as close to serving time as possible.  As for storing leftovers, I’m still working on that one as I don’t ever seem to have any. 

Yes there is a little science and work involved in making a great chocolate covered strawberry.  When I’m short on time, a great solution is to simply serve fresh strawberries with chocolate fondue allowing each person to dip and indulge at their leisure.

Red White and Blue Berries

1 Pint Fresh Strawberries, Washed and Dried Thoroughly

½ lb. Good Quality White Chocolate (I prefer Dove®)

Blue Sugar for Garnish

Temper white chocolate either by hand or with a tempering machine and dip dry berries ¾ of the way into the chocolate leaving part of the red berry exposed.  Hold strawberry over chocolate bowl until excess chocolate has dripped off.  Lay on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with blue sugar before the chocolate firms.  Allow chocolate to firm at room temperature.