Beer Cheese Fondue

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded cheese* (Gruyere, Emmenthaler, raclette, cheddar or other good melting cheese) 
• 1/4 cup flour (substitute with corn starch) 
• 1 cup flavorful, low bitterness beer** 
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (fresh, at room temperature) 
• grated garlic or onion (to taste, optional) 
• fresh or dry herbs (to taste)

BEST BEER STYLES TO USE FOR CHEESE FONDUE

Styles with low bitterness, bready/biscuity notes and herbal, earthy aromas (Noble hops or traditional English varieties) make the best candidates to use. To that end we recommend:

• Pilsner lagers (like Bohemian (Czech) and Munich Helles)
• Dunkel and bock lagers
• Doppelbock lagers (especially well suited with more aged cheeses)
• Saisons and strong Belgian ales (nothing sour)
• Wheat ales, especially if fermented with clean American yeast (not fruit flavored of course and nothing sour)
• English pale ales, English mild
• Amber and brown ales (low bitterness, mostly aroma hops)

Avoid sour beers (including kettle sours) as their higher acidity may cause the heavy cream to curdle, especially if it is not fresh heavy cream and has already began to sour in the carton.

Directions:

Step 1. To start – shred enough cheese to have about four cups worth. Coat it well with flour (this will facilitate the melting process). Set aside.

Step 2. Next, pour the beer into a cold pot, turn the heat to medium and bring to simmer to cook off the alcohol. After the beer has simmered for a couple of minutes, add the cream and simmer for a few more minutes.

TIPS: 1. If you add beer to a hot pan/pot it will foam excessively. 2. If you’d like to add a bit of grated garlic or grated onion and/or any dry or fresh herbs such as picked fresh thyme leaves, add them to the beer to infuse with their flavor.

Step 3. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the cheese in batches while gently stirring. Once all the cheese has melted, transfer to a pre-heated fondue pot, taste and if needed season with salt & pepper, then serve.


WHAT TO DO IF YOUR BEER CHEESE FONDUE BREAKS

If your beer cheese sauce breaks (most likely due to adding cold cheese to too hot of a liquid base) you might end up with clumps. This is easy to fix!

Simply use an immersion blender or transfer the entire broken mess into a blender and process it until no more clumps are visible. Strain and add a few tablespoons of cream to the cheese sauce and warm it up over very gentle heat while stirring.

Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
• 7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour (set aside ¼ cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup buttermilk**

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

** To make homemade buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use only ½ cup of the prepared mixture for the recipe.

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and ⅞ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/06/29/buttermilk-blueberry-breakfast-cake/

Baked Curry Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 boneless chicken breast, cubed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 chopped green onion, green part only

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Line the bottom of a roasting pan or cookie sheet with foil. Place a roasting or cooling rack on top.

In a large bowl, toss together the wings and oil. Place cubed chicken onto rack in the pan and bake 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, curry powder, ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and sugar.

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the flour mixture and stir to form a roux (similar to a paste). Whisk in the chicken broth and milk, trying to smooth the sauce as much as possible. Bring to a boil, whisking often until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.

Once the chicken is cooked, toss with the curry sauce. If the sauce cooled down and thickened too much, reheat until hot again, adding a little more chicken broth to thin it out if necessary. Top with green onion. Serve immediately.

I served it over Basmati rice and garlic Naan


Adapted from: (www.chocolatemoosey.com)

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 C. Flour (I substituted Whole Wheat Flour)
• 1 t. Salt
• 1 t. Baking Soda
• 1 t. Baking Powder
• 1 T. Cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 C. Canola or Vegetable Oil (I substituted Coconut Oil)
• 2¼ C. Sugar
• 1 T. Vanilla
• 3 1/2 C. Zucchini, grated (I shredded it and it was fine.) 
• *1/4 c Flax Seed (I added this although the original recipe didn't call for it.) 

Instructions

1. Grease and flour two 8x4" loaf pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture, and stir until just combined. Add the zucchini and mix in until well distributed.
5. Divide batter between prepared pans.
6. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges remove the bread from pan.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Serves: 3-4

First and foremost, here is a link to the original recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen. I did not want to use a can of "Cream of Whatever" soup. I chose to make my own because homemade is always better. I also left out the butter to reduce fat and used corn flake crumbs rather than Ritz crackers, only because I didn't have any. You can find my version below. I reduced the original amounts in half. The original recipe is for 4 people but I found that even by cutting it in half, I still ad enough for 3-4 meals.

Ingredients

2 cups chopped cooked chicken (2 chicken breasts)
4 oz Light Sour Cream
1 Tablespoon of Poppy Seed
1/4 teaspoon of Celery Salt
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2-3/4 cup Corn Flake Crumbs, divided
5 oz Cream of Chicken soup****

****I made a Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
1 Tablespoon Flour
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions for "Cream of Chicken Soup"
1) Melt butter in pan. Whisk in flour until bubbly
2) Remove from heat, whisk in broth and milk.
3) Return to heat and bring to a low boil.
4) Add salt and pepper to taste


Assembling the casserole:

1) Preheat oven to 350° and lightly coat a baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
2) In a large bowl, mix chicken, cream of chicken mixture, sour cream, poppy seed, celery sale, 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/3-1/2 cup Corn Flake Crumbs.
3) Spoon mixture into dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese, corn flake crumbs and paprika.
4) Bake for 35-40 minutes.