Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomato Chicken

@FoodNetwork @inagarten Monday night we made goat cheese and sun dried tomato chicken breast and butter beans.  Goat cheese and tomatoes (of any kind) are two of our favorite foods.  The light creaminess of the goat cheese oozing out is amazing!  It is an easy recipe where goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes are stuffed into a small pocket cut into a boneless skinless chicken breast.  We made frozen butter beans to accompany the chicken.  Mark is a Georgia boy, so beans and peas are some of his favorite foods.  They are a perfect fit with the chicken.

We generally follow this recipe found on Food Network, with a slight variation in that we use boneless breasts. 

Raffaldini Winery

@Raffaldini  Not even a bit of lingering ice can keep us from some wine tasting!  Saturday we headed out with another couple to a few wineries -- Shadow Springs Vineyard, Windsor Run Cellars, and Raffaldini Vineyards.  The only new one on the list for us on this adventure was Raffaldini, which will be the topic for this blog post.   

Raffalidini specializes in Italian style wine, which introduced us to several new varietals, such as Montepulciano.  The tasting room and view are spectacular, even in the doldrums of winter.  A place we will definitely visit again this spring or summer.  A bottle of Sangiovese followed us home and awaits us. 

Meatloaf

@Paula_Deen @FoodNetwork  Another icy night calls for another one of our go-to comfort foods -- home style meatloaf.  This past Friday was a true comfort food night.  The sleet started about noon and at 6 PM we realized we would not be headed anywhere until morning.  We have made Paula Deen's Old-Fashioned Meatloaf countless times and is one of our standbys.  A simple mix of ground beef, onions, peppers, oats, and tomatoes makes for a moist, delicious loaf each time.  

A quick side salad, veggie, and a glass of wine (or two) made for a great way to start our night in.  (For the two of us, there are always plenty of leftovers for, say, meatloaf sandwiches the next day.)

You can find the recipe here -- our only suggestion would be to consider doubling the ketchup-based topping.  Ketchup as an accompaniment works fine, too.

 

Chicken Taco Soup

@allrecipes  Another cold night in North Carolina calls for a hearty soup and the ease of the slow cooker.  Tonight we made slow cooker Chicken Taco Soup.  One of our go-to meals on a cold night, this meal combines many veggies and tender chicken breasts.  Another 'set it and forget it' recipe that will greet you smelling of simmering cumin (that familiar Mexican spice) when you get home from a long day.  Did we mention this dish also includes a can of beer?! 

This dish really does taste of tacos.  Be sure to add some sour cream, scallions, and crushed tortilla chips if you want the real effect.  Pair it with a quick salad and you will find a quick and easy meal to warm you up this winter. 

This recipe is compliments of allrecipes.com -- you can find it here.

Prepping the soup-- make some room in the recycle bin for some cans!



Finished product - doesn't that look yummy??!!!



A Night in Chateauneuf-du-Pape

We had a great introduction to the French Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Rhône regions on January 23 at Wine Merchants Gourmet.  The event was led by Jérôme Quiot of Famile Quiot vineyards, one of the largest family of landowners in the regions with parcels of land dating back to the late 1700's.  We sampled a variety of both whites and reds.  Mr. Quiot enlightened us with a family history overview and a description of the various estates. 

We were blown away to learn the true length of time needed for great wine making grapevines to mature (15 years to find out if a planting is successful).  He commented that the recent plantings' success will be realized by his grandchildren 75+ years from now.  Most endearing, Mr. Quiot was honest about his plantings that have not been succesful. 

Thank you to both Mr. Quiot and Wine Merchants for a great 'adventure' to France for the night.  Add the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region to our list of favorite wines! 

French Broad Chocolates

#AshevilleNC @chocolatelounge  A trip to Asheville would not be complete without dessert at French Broad Chocolates. Chocolate French Macaroon and an assortment of 6 truffles capped off a great night. For once, the line wasn't too crazy -- but if you haven't been and happen to find yourself in Asheville, don't let the lines dissuade you. You will be handsomely rewarded with an amazing lounge and some great desserts and drinks.

Slow Cooker Chili

When the temperatures falls, the slow cooker comes out for a nice hearty chili dinner.  It is a very simple, quick, and "set it and forget it" recipe.  If you are looking for a filling, veggie-loaded, and non-spicy chili -- this has it all.  Nothing fancy here - lots of canned veggies in the slow cooker and let it do it's magic.

 

You won't find this recipe in a fancy cookbook or even our go-to food websites, but rather it was a seemingly suspicious concoction on the back of a can of beans.  Yes, it came about one night over a year ago when we were trolling the pantry for a dinner idea.  But trust us, if you are looking for simple - give this a try - here is the recipe. 

 

By the way, if you haven't found the genius of slow cooker liners yet -- get them!  They will save you hours of soaking and scrubbing after the meal.     

 

The end product. 
Take note of the beautful servingware -- did we mention it makes great leftovers warmed up?

  

Greek Dinner

Tonight we tried a new recipe from @FoodNetwork #FNMag -- Turkey and Rice Stuffed Peppers and Big Greek Salad.  Featured in the Jan/Feb 2013 edition in the Weekend Cooking section, this is certainly a meal that requires some time, but is well worth the effort.  A twist on the traditional stuffed peppers, this recipe combines a lean, heart healthy meal that combines the traditional flavors with a Greek twist.  We are huge fans of feta, which plays a critical and tasteful role in the recipe.  Complimented by some fresh dill and parsley, the otherwise bland turkey takes on an amazing flavor.  The peppers absorb the tomato based sauce - a simple mix of tomato puree, water, and brown sugar - both during cooking and in the pool that the finished peppers rest in.

The Big Greek Salad is a take on the traditional with a nice homemade dressing that combines red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, and EVOO.  We chose to add some feta and beets to add to the traditional Greek classic. 

Get ready for a continuous cycle of dishes during the 2+ hour cooking period.  Also, we might suggest a bottle of wine to make this time fly (for us a bottle of Childress Barrel Select 2008 Merlot).  We certainly recommend giving these dishes a try if you are looking for a colorful twist on the traditional salad and stuffed peppers.  


Pepping the peppers - pretty colors!!

The peppers simmering in their tomato-based sauce (about 50 minutes) 

Our Greek dinner - stuffed peppers, Greek salad, and a nice glass of wine!

Elkin NC Wineries

Today we change topics from food to our other passion -- Wine!  Today we ventured to three wineries near Elkin in Surry and Wilkes County.  By way of background, about a year ago we launched our quest to venture to all 100+ North Carolina wineries.  While we only made it to a little over 40 in 2012, our journey continues in 2013!  Today, our travels took us to Elkin Creek Winery, Slightly Askew Winery, and MenaRick Vineyard.

Our travels started at Slightly Askew Winery located near downtown Elkin.  Specializing in fruit wines and sweet wine with unique names, we were surprised to find some great dry reds, as well.  We enjoyed some great one-on-one time with the owner and winemaker who took us on a "behind the scenes" tour.  Their winemaking grew from a hobby to a successful business, which was fascinating.  While none of the grapes/fruits are grown by the owners, their winemaking is well on its way.  Made in small batches, their wine making is quite unique.  For us, the Roaring River Red and Bridge Street Red were our favorites.



Our next stop was Elkin Creek Winery.  Situated on the land of a historic mill that sees the convergence of two steady steams, the backdrop makes for a great wine tasting spot.  While we didn't exactly venture out to the grounds given the snow, we certainly will make a trip back in the summer.  Anyway - on to the wine.  A small, yet tasteful, selection of European varietals, many grown onsite.  We took home a bottle of the Rossa. The owner, who recently relocated from Las Vegas, was very welcoming.  We plan to return on a "Sunday Pizza day" for some artisan wood fired pizza and wine.



Out final stop of the day was an unexpected venture -- MenaRick Vineyard and Winery.  One of the newest tasting rooms, the winery specializes in Spanish varietals.  Unique for the NC area (at least in our ventures), they were a nice change of pace from the traditional.  The tasting room was very nice and is situated overlooking the vines (which were uniquely covered in snow today).  A bottle of Touriga accompanied us home.

Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew

From #foodnetworkmagazine last year, tonight we cooked Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew.  A quick and easy recipe for a cold and rainy (now snowy) evening in NC.  Very easy to make and the meatballs were delicious. 

The soup is a simple mix of onions, roasted tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots and the meatballs (a quick fix of onion and ground turkey breast).  We were very skeptical that the meatballs would be bland, but as they cook in the savory stew they soak up all the delicious flavors. 

Less than 500 calories a serving - quick and simple - a definite hit!

Click here if you want to give it a shot!

Stew prep

 

Meatball prep (they are a bit sticky to prepare but worry not!)

Simmering the meatballs to cook them through -- notice we had to transfer to a larger cast iron skillet.  The recipe doesn't exactly convey how large the skillet needs to be, so go large from the start!

Dinner is ready!

Lemon Onion Chicken

Our first blog is for Four Step Lemon Onion Chicken -- recipe by
@MelissadArabian from @foodnetwork. The recipe is in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of #foodnetworkmagazine.

Lightly fried chicken breasts covered in a succulent blend of red onions cooked in a lemon/chicken reduction.  We left out the white wine (just none to be found in the house -- oops!). Frying is always a bit of a mess in the kitchen but the chicken was tender and moist and the onion reduction was to die for --- you can see from the pic that we really piled them on!