Cheesy Roasted Garlic Grits

I'm not a huge fan of this Southern favorite, but my dad loves eating grits for breakfast. He had been requesting a recipe that incorporated grits for a few weeks, but I couldn't find anything that I thought I would like. I saw this recipe on Sandwich King and decided to give it a try -- I'm pretty sure anything will taste good with cheese and garlic incorporated throughout.

From Sandwich King.

Ingredients: 
-1 head garlic

-Olive oil, for drizzling

-Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

-4 cups vegetable stock

-1 cup stone-ground grits

-1/2 cup grated white Cheddar

-1/2 cup milk cream

-4 slices yellow Cheddar

Trim the ends off of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Bake covered in foil at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Once the garlic is roasted, squeeze the cloves out of the peel.
Smear on a cutting board until a paste forms.

Meanwhile, heat four cups of vegetable stock to a boil.
Pour in one cup of grits and cook until fluffy.
Mix in the 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cheddar.

Pour into four ramekins. 

Top each with cheddar. 

Bake for 2-3 minutes at 400 until melted.

Ready to eat.

This recipe was very good. The cheesy and the garlic complimented the grits nicely, J. and I both enjoyed it even though neither of us usually like grits. The garlic in this recipe was incredibly strong and I'm a garlic lover, if I make this again I will probably use just half a head of garlic to prevent the flavor from being overwhelming. 

Apple Pie with Cheese

I saw this idea in Food Network magazine (October 2013). I did a little bit of digging on the internet, but couldn't find out too much concrete information about how this started. Apparently it's a thing and to be honest it actually tasted pretty good. You can use any type of cheese and any recipe for apple pie. I've included a link to the blog for my apple pie recipe.

Ingredients:
-Apple Pie
-Cheese, any type

Bake your apple pie and then broil or microwave the slice with the cheese on top.

Topped with Gruyere. 

Topped with Cheddar.

The cheese added a savory note to the sweet pie. It was an interesting flavor combination, it wasn't bad. I obviously ate this twice because I tried it with two different cheeses. I think I preferred the Gruyere over the Cheddar, the flavor was a lot more subtle. Both tasted good though, this would be something I would do again for a different twist on apple pie. 

Frittata Bagel Sandwich

One of my favorite Food Network shows is Sandwich King, I adapted this recipe to make it a little smaller and to make it vegetarian. I based my instructions off a previously recipe that I had made -- Tortilla Espanola. The original recipe was made on the stove top and in the oven, mine is made entirely on the stove top.

Sandwich King recommends serving this with Atomic Hash Browns, a recipe that Becky previously blogged.

Adapted from Sandwich King.

Other Sandwich Wednesday Recipes: Egg Breakfast Wrap, Roasted Vegetable Sandwich with Zesty White Bean Spread, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Apple Sandwich, Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich, Mediterranean Wrap, BLT with Guacamole and Fried Egg, Nori Wraps.


Ingredients: 
-2 slices vegan bacon, chopped

-6 large eggs

-1/2 cup grated mozzarella

-1/2 cup grated parmesean 

-Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

-3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

-1/4 cup sour cream

-1 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha (or to taste)

-1 scallion, minced

-4 everything bagel-thins, split and toasted

Mix together the eggs, crumbled bacon, mozzarella, parmesean, salt and pepper.
Whisk together.

Pour into a greased skillet and cook on medium heat for 7-10 minutes or until the bottom is set.
Then flip the frittata onto a cutting board and slide the uncooked side back into the pan.
For a visual, check out my Tortilla Espanola blog.
Cook for 5 minutes.

Let the frittata rest for five minutes.

Cut into rounds and place onto the toasted bagel. 

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, hot sauce and salt and pepper together. 

Spread the mixture onto the top of the bagel. 

Put the sandwich together.

Enjoy!

I thought that this sandwich was good, I'm glad that we used bagel thins instead of regular sized bagels. I think a regular sized bagel plus the filling would have been too much for me to eat. The sauce added a nice kick, but wasn't overwhelmingly spicy. The frittata round allowed for egg in every bite of the sandwich.

Atomic Hash Browns

This was a good way to make something different for breakfast, and I adjusted the original recipe from making my own hash browns from scratch to just using frozen hash browns, so this was really quick and simple.

This recipe comes from Food Network.

Ingredients:

-2 cups frozen hash browns
-2 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon paprika
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne
-Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Add the spices to the thawed hash browns first.

Cook them like you would normal hash browns,
flipping them over halfway through.

These were pretty tasted, not too spicy, but had a little bit of kick as an aftertaste. The best part was that I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen ready to go.

S'mores Cake

Today we're celebrating the one year anniversary of Vegetarian & Cooking!

(Edit 3/20/2013) If you're visiting us from Tastespotting or The Berry, welcome! Learn more about us here.

What started out as an occasional pastime in my college kitchen has turned into something much larger than I could have ever hoped. I work really hard to keep Vegetarian & Cooking! going, but this blog wouldn't be possible without the love and support I receive from J. and all of the help I receive from Becky. Lastly, none of this would be possible without our readers. 

Today's blog is a recipe that was featured in Food Network magazine. This was not only a collaborative effort between Becky and I, but this is the final blog for the month of February featuring the beautiful photography of Kayla. Check out Kayla's blog here.

Other blogs featuring Kayla: Twice Baked Red Potatoes, Corn Risotto and King Cake Cocktail.

Here's the first blog post: Raisin & Apricot Pilaf with Green Beans & Walnut Dressing.

Ingredients: 

Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

8 whole graham crackers, crushed

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Pinch of salt

Vegetable oil, for the spatula

1 16-ounce container marshmallow cream

Cake

Chocolate Cake Mix, prepared 

Bake the cake according to package directions.

Gather the rest of the ingredients. 

Allow the cakes to cool. 

Combine all of the ingredients for the ganache in a heatproof bowl.

Heat over a double boil. 

Stir occasionally. 

This process won't take too long, but you need to cool the ganache.

FoodNetwork recommends cooling the ganache for 1 hour.
We just popped it into the freezer for about 10 minutes. 

While the ganache is cooling, bake the graham crackers which have been covered in melted butter.
350 for 8-10 minutes.

Using a long, sharp knife, carefully slice each cake in half. 

You'll end up with four pieces, keep track of them because you need to stack them carefully. 

  

With the first two layers.
Add a layer of marshmallow fluff, add some graham crackers. 

Then stack the top of the first cake onto the layer of marshmallow fluff and graham crackers.
Make sure to put the top of the layer is on the inside that way the flattest layer is on top.

Spread more marshmallow fluff onto that layer.

The marshmallow fluff is difficult to spread, oil your spatula  if needed.
I found it was easier to work with the marshmallow cream after I microwaved it.
I think we put it in for about thirty seconds.  

Top with more graham crackers.  

You're halfway to deliciousness. 

Add the third layer, put this layer cut side down, it will be so much easier  to spread the marshmallow fluff onto the smooth underside of the cake.
Top with more graham crackers. 

   

Add the top layer to your cake.

See? That was easy, now for the fun part. 

Stir up the ganache. 

  

Pour over the cake. 

Chocolate deliciousness. 

Make sure the top of the cake is covered well, and that the ganache is going down the sides. 

Ready for more toppings. 

Top with the remaining graham crackers. 

Happy one year anniversary to Vegetarian & Cooking!
    

  

This cake was delicious, I could not have been happier with how it turned out. It looks like a lot of steps, but it was really not that difficult to put together and everything was worth the time it took to put the cake together. This cake is great way to bring summer inside during the cold winter weather.

Thank you for all of the support over the past year and thanks for being with us throughout the first year. I promise only bigger and better things from here.