Pão de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread)

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about something delicious! I mean a secret so good you will name you next child after me! It's Brazilian cheese bread. It's called Pão de Queijo( pronounced pow jee kay-show). Holli and I are addicted. I used to eat these things all the time on my mission in southern Brazil and now that I know how to make them...this could be a problem...a wonderful delicious problem. Also a bonus, they are Gluten free. I have a co-worker who has celiac disease and still comes by my office a month latter thanking me after giving her this recipe. She said that it is the closest thing to bread she can eat. Gluten free bread tends to be really crumbly and dry. This recipe is a must try if you are on a gluten-free diet! Another bonus is you put all the ingredients in a blender and pour them in a muffin tin and voila you’re done! It's so easy Charly can make it. The only down side is it uses tapioca flour. It can be found at any grocery store and isn't too expensive, but trust me once you have these you will buy a giant bucket full at Costco!




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Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

With the Super Bowl coming up I thought I would post a Super Bowl-esque recipe. My mother-in-law went to a cooking class a few years ago and it was geared toward cooking Super Bowl food. In this class she learned how to make a Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup. She posted this recipe on her blog lovinfromthebarneckoven.blogspot.com. We have been making this soup for a few years and love it every time! We started when I was on a big wing kick and would try anything with buffalo wing sauce in it. I also think you could cut out most of the chicken stock and add extra Velveeta cheese and make a dip if you shredded the chicken. But that is just a thought. This soup is really easy and will warm you up on a cold day. It is a winning recipe for any wing lover!

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1/4 cup (4 Tbs) butter

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

14 oz. Can chicken broth

2 cups cooked & diced chicken (1 used 3 breast)

4 oz. Velveeta cheese

1/4 to ½ cup Franks Red Hot or Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

Bleu Cheese Crumbles (if desired)

Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, stir in flour. SLOWLY whisk in milk and chicken broth. Add chicken. Add velveeta and stir until melted. Add hot sauce, sour cream and sprinkle with bleu cheese to your taste preference. Cook low, stirring constantly until heated through and bleu cheese is melted. SERVE!

This make enough for about 4 people. It is a big hit and the pot is usually scraped clean.

You may use rotisserie chicken from the grocery store if desired.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

It is starting to get cold in Buena Vista and that can only mean one thing, casseroles! So let’s start out with the grand daddy of all casseroles...Mac and Cheese! I love the freshness of summer recipes. You have so many options as far as produce, but I love winter food. It is so rich and hearty and it just warms up your soul. This is a solid Mac and Cheese recipe and you will not be sorry when you make it. It is also very kid friendly. If you are crazy and do not like bacon, you can take it out and substitute it with an extra tablespoon of butter when making your rue. Once you make this you will be making it all winter and wishing you could make it all summer.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 to 3 slices of Bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease and melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Slowly Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf. Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Chop bacon into small pieces and add to pot. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Grits so good it will melt your face off!

Trust me when you eat these grits it will be like that Nazi who looked in the Ark in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Last Ark! If you do not get that reference you should take some time out of your day to watch that movie. Since coming to Virginia about 5 years ago, I have heard southerners rave about the southern staple known as grits. I decided to give them a go several years back and almost gagged. Over and over again I was duped by some smooth talking southerner to try them again. Every time I naively gave them another try I was left with the same result, Barf! I admit I didn’t have too high of hopes for grits in places like waffle house or even quick grits from Wal-Mart, but I was confused with the wonderful flavors of southern food and the bland and tasteless flavor of their ever so popular grits. They would tell me to load it up with cheese and butter and bacon, but even with the celestial meat known as bacon I could not choke grits down.

Then I ate at a little restaurant in Lexington known as the Red Hen. (www.redhenlex.com/) One of the main courses included grits and rabbit bacon. I was so excited about the rabbit bacon I completely ignored the grits altogether. When the food arrived I looked at my plate and saw the grits. My heart sank! “Why did I order this?” I thought! Then I decided to just suck it up and give them one last try. This was in fact a high class restaurant. The first bite with the grits and rabbit bacon was like biting into heaven itself! The grits were almost as good as the rabbit bacon, which is on a very short list of the best things I ever ate! From that moment I became a true convert! I knew that not all grits were created equal. So I asked the waitress what kind of grits they used and she said they used stone ground white grits from Wades Mill here in Rockbridge County.

It’s been over a year since I had them and I am not sure why I didn’t make this trip sooner. This Saturday we made a trip to Wades Mill. It was so cool! They use local ingredients from the Rockbridge County Farmers Co-op and stone grind everything from grits, flour, polenta, to barley. They have pancake mixes, bread mixes, and beer bread mixes. I got a small bag of yellow and white grits. Then this morning made creamy stone-ground grits with bacon and cheddar and threw on a fried egg to top it off. It was awesome! Not quite Red Hen quality, but close. If you do not live close to Rockbridge County here is wades mills web site (www.wadesmill.com). Now all my friends out west can order grits if they want to. This recipe is worth your time!

Creamy Stone Ground Grits

Ingredients
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup coarse stone-ground white grits
1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preperation
Bring water, salt, and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, then add grits gradually, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, covered, stirring frequently, until water is absorbed and grits are thickened, about 15 minutes.
Stir in 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally to keep grits from sticking to bottom of pan, 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and grits are thick and tender, about 35 minutes more. (Grits will have a soft, mashed-potato-like consistency.)
Stir in pepper and remaining tablespoon butter.