30/30 - #25 Spicy Pimento Cheese

I may be a heathy eater and cook, but I am still a Southern girl at heart, which means I LOVE Pimento Cheese. Unfortunately, the store bought brands sort of freak me out after reading the ingredient list. I was sure that I could come up with my own version. Most of the credit for this recipe goes to my dear mother, but we have both tweaked it over the years.

For those of you that are just catching up, I am counting down my Top 30 favorites to celebrate my up coming, milestone birthday, the big 3-0! Pimento Cheese marks #25 on the countdown.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of the cheese that you select for the Pimento Cheese recipe, like I do in the original post. Quality cheese adds so much more flavor to the pimento cheese, instead of masking low-grade cheese with tons of mayo. The Hubby and many friends usually can't get enough of this and eat it by the spoonful.

Spicy Pimento Cheese

Yields: 4.5 cups
Prep time: 5 minutes

You can find the recipe for Pimento Cheese here.

American Meltdown Love

A few weeks ago, I cheated, I mean I really cheated! Before you judge, hear me out. I was about to dive into a 5-Day Fall Cleanse, one that I knew would really challenge my food cravings. I love to eat, and anyone that knows me, understands that taking that away from me removes a small piece of my soul! Therefore, in order to mentally prepare myself for this cleanse, I decided to indulge as much as possible the night before (which you are not supposed to do according to Cleanse guidelines). 

Enter American Meltdown - the best food truck in Raleigh (or one of many amazing ones)! Hubby and I received word through the social mediasphere of a small food truck rodeo to celebrate a new restaurant opening. We had been trying to track down American Meltdown for a while and noticed they were on the list. This was our chance.

As we arrived in the pouring rain and walked up to the window of the truck, we noticed this shiny silver sign that listed a special, The Truffle Melt. There was no argument from the Hubby there (he has a soft spot for truffles). And yes, it was a $32 sandwich and worth every cent! As we waited anxiously for our food, we chatted it up with the owner and Head Melt Maker Paul. 

He pulled a whole truffle out, while he told us about his "truffle guy" and how it was a pricey risk for him to add this melt to the menu (paid off though). With his Japanese knife and cutting board, he started slicing away. The freshly sliced truffles went on top of sauteed Portabella mushrooms, sottocenere cheese and local bread. All to be served with their famous fried Brussels sprouts.

Delicious, amazing, luxurious, satisfying. This Melt was the perfect way to prepare for my 5-Day Fall Cleanse. It led me to a gluten guilt so bad, the cleanse was the only cure.

Check out their calendar and follow them on social media. It is worth hunting down this truck to taste one of their cheesy, bold, scrumptious melts!

Keep kicking ass American Meltdown.

Red, White and Roasted Blueberries

We love the 4th of July around here! Fireworks, cookouts, and a vacation day...so many wonderful things about our Nation's birthday. 'Merica!!

Since color is such an important aspect of cooking, I had an idea to play around with our beloved flag colors for today's post. I quickly realized that I don't have any blue dishes!! Then I quickly realized again that I have yet to highlight blueberries on the blog, which is crazy, because they are in season and delicious right now. 

When I think of blueberries, I usually think desserts, which I mostly can't have. So I decided to challenge myself and come up with an appetizer. I had several pints of blueberries, various types of cheese and two taste-testers in my house yesterday. I did what any normal food-obsessed person would do, experimented! 

Ryan and his brother Paul were enjoying one of the many sporting events on TV, while I pulled out every dairy product and cracker we had in our kitchen. Overall, I did about 15 different combinations, but the unanomous favorite were the roasted blueberries over melted Gouda in fillo shells with thyme and white pepper....say what?!?!

Blue on Blue

Let's back track and talk about how we got there...I started with fresh blueberries and made little toothpicks with each type of cheese and a blueberry. The favorite there was with a Blue Stilton cheese. We called these Blue on Blue!

Sinking Blues

The next step was filling fillo shells with different types of cheese and topping with a few blueberries. I melted these in the oven for a few minutes and topped with either a bit of honey or cracked pepper, depending on the cheese. We called these Sinking Blues!

Roasted Blueberries

Like most of the fruit in my kitchen, I wondered about cooking the blueberries. They get so sweet and juicy in a pie or galette, why not with cheese! The result was amazing! I mixed the blueberries with a little bit of lemon juice and honey and roasted them in the oven for less than 10 minutes, just long enough for the blueberries to pop and create a nice juice in the pan.

If you can find a goat milk Gouda cheese (Trader Joe's has one), this was the BEST with the roasted blueberries. We also found the plain water crackers to work best also. Triscuits are too thick and take over the flavors. We spiced it up a notch with white pepper and thyme leaves. All in all it was a delightful little blue appy to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Roasted Blueberries

Yields: Around 1 cup
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 7-10 minutes

1 pint blueberries
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp honey
dried thyme (optional)
white pepper (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F and mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with oil or brush with melted butter. Roast the blueberries for about 7-10 minutes, or until the blueberries start to pop. Remove and bring to room temperature.

Serve with your favorite cheese and crackers!

Pumpkin Recipe Roundup: Pumpkin and Pancetta Pasta

After last weeks pumpkin post, I had to re-group and get back to my health conscious ways! Every time I taste the pumpkin puree, even though I know what it tastes like, I am surprised at the lack of sweetness. When I think pumpkin, I think sweets (probably like most American's). The idea of pumpkin as being sweet is engrained in our minds. But in fact, pumpkin is not. Pumpkin in its cleanest, most naked form is rustic and savory....much like any winter squash. Oh right, pumpkin IS a squash!!

I decided to throw a curve ball on my Pumpkin Recipe Roundup and come up with a savory recipe. Ryan is not the biggest fan of winter squash, so I had to come up with something that he would like despite his dislike of squash consistency. Ok, ladies and gentlemen, here is a test of your Kettler Cuisine blog loyalty. What ingredient do I like to add to recipes so that my sweet husband will eat it......BACON!! That's right, but in a more gourmet fashion, pancetta was used in this one. 

I did a pasta bake, or baked ziti if you will. Cheese and bacon was bound to win my husband over. This recipe could easily be swapped with butternut squash or other winter squash. While pumpkin has a bit more of a mild flavor, butternut squash is a tad bit sweeter. However, in the spirit of Fall, and our society's massive obsession, I decided to highlight pumpkin....in true American fashion!!

Pumpkin and Pancetta Pasta

Yields: 6 servings
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, divided

4 cups pumpkin, peeled and cubed (about 1 sugar pie pumpkin)
olive oil
6 ounces pancetta, cubed
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces dried ziti pasta
5 cups kale, de-stemmed and chopped
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 T flour (for gluten free use corn starch or arrowroot)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup creme fraiche (or light cream cheese)
3/4 cup gruyere cheese, shredded (or sharp white cheddar cheese), divided

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and rub olive oil on the foil.

Combine the pumpkin and about 1 T olive oil in a large bowl and stir to evenly coat the pumpkin. Spread the pumpkin in an even layer on the baking sheet and cook at 400F for about 30 minutes or until tender. Set aside. Leave the oven at 400F and grease a 13x9" baking dish.

Fill a large pasta pot with water and bring to a boil, while prepping the pancetta and onion mixture.

In a large saute pan, cook the pancetta on medium heat until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving some of the drippings. Cook the red onion in the remaining drippings for about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the garlic and 1/2 tsp salt and cook for another minute. Set this aside.

Once the pot of water starts to boil, cook the pasta until almost al dente (about 6-7 minutes). Add in the kale and cook for another minute and immediately strain and set aside.

In a sauce pan, bring 1 cup of vegetable broth to a boil. Take the remaining 1/4 cup of broth and mix with flour (or corn starch if doing a gluten free version) and stir into the boiling broth. Cook this for another 2 minutes, stirring continuously until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat and stir in 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese and all the creme fraiche in small batches until melted and the sauce is creamy. Remove from heat, a creamy cheese sauce will result.

In a large bowl stir the pumpkin, onion mixture, pancetta, pasta, kale and cheese sauce until evenly combined. Pour into a greased 13x9" baking dish and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top. Cook for 25 minutes in a 400F oven until bubbly and slightly browned on top.