Garlic Butter with Fresh Herbs

 

It’s a rare day when I don’t have a crock of garlic butter in my fridge. I love to make it up fresh every week, finding multiple uses for it as the days progress. It’s delicious on vegetables, makes garlic bread an easy fix, and when buried in the center of a patty of ground beef ready for the grill, adds flavor and yields a juicy burger. I think you will find that it will serve you well this summer, providing you with many uses throughout, making cooking less of a chore, while amping up the taste of a variety of foods.

Garlic Butter with Fresh Herbs

1 c. butter, softened,
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1 T. minced fresh chives
1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together all ingredients with a hand mixer. Using a rubber spatula, scrape into a container, cover, and store in the fridge until ready for use.

To make garlic bread, cut a baguette on the diagonal in slices about 1 inch thick. Spread copious amounts of garlic butter on each slice, and top with a mound of cheese. Slide into the broiler until the cheese has melted, and then enjoy.

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Stocking Stuffers for the Foodie

I don't think that there is an easier group of people to shop for than the “foodie.”  Everywhere you look there is something that this delightful group of people may find useful, from seasonings to spices, to exotic and ethnic foods, to specialty liquors for those equally special cocktails, to mixes, equipment, and books. To add to the ease, something sure to please can be found to fit any budget, from a five dollar pack of vanilla beans from Melissa's Produce to a thousand dollar espresso machine from Williams-Sonoma.

If you or someone you know is shopping for a foodie, the Quarto Publishing Group can help you with this fantastic offering of diverse and “stocking stuffer worthy” cookbooks. Each of which is unique and interesting is its own special way.

Burger lovers (like me) will find much inspiration in this cute, burger-shaped book that offers both meat and meatless recipes and drool worthy pictures to both tempt and inspire you.

 Have a beer lover in your family?  He or she will be delighted with this bottle-shaped volume (the absolute perfect shape for stuffing a stocking) that will both educate and inspire. Reasonably priced, it can be tied onto or inserted into a six-pack making it a welcome host or hostess gift.

Ever wonder what to do with those cute Babybel cheeses? This book has all of the answers in its cheese-shaped self that can be easily added to a meat, wine, and cheese gift basket along with a heaping mound of Babybel cheeses.

 Exotic food loving foodies will absolutely delight in this fascinating Bombay Lunchbox book. If you are unfamiliar with the lunch delivery system in India, you need to read all about it here, and then whip up one of the toothsome recipes contained within. Colorful and informative, you won't be able to put this one down, and may soon find yourself booking passage to Bombay.

 Lastly, Carolyn and Chris Caldicott's book of British recipes is the perfect remedy for this busy, exhausting, seriously-in-need-of-comfort holiday season. Use this as the centerpiece in a gift basket for your favorite Anglophile along with a teapot, cup and saucer, tin of English breakfast tea, and a jar of clotted cream. A nutmeg grater, some whole nutmeg, and a package of vanilla beans will allow them to immediately try the Clotted Cream Rice Pudding recipe in the book.  It is seriously the closest thing to being wrapped in comfort. Toss in a DVD of the latest season of Midsomer Murders and you have a gift they will appreciate for months to come.

Happy shopping!

This post is linked to:

Cookbook Wednesday

Disclaimer:  I was provided these books, free of charge, in exchange for a review.

Steak 'n Shake Chili

Founded in 1934 when Gus Belt of Normal, IL converted a gas station/chicken restaurant into a hamburger stand, Steak 'n Shake has become a Midwest institution.  Most widely known for their Steakburgers, a trademarked name for a hamburger that was a combination of round, sirloin, and T-bone steaks ground into burgers in full view of customers, and their "hand-dipped, real-milk" milkshakes. My first experience with a fast food hamburger came at the hand of Steak 'n Shake.  McDonald's?  Never heard of them.  Not, at least when I was 6 years old.  Steak 'n Shake was the place to be.  It continued to be "the place" when I was in high school and throngs of teenagers descended upon it on Friday nights.  This was back in the days of car hops, trays attached to partially rolled down car windows, and people visiting from car to car while chomping on a steakburger.  It was so crowded on Friday nights that getting a parking space was pure serendipity, but that didn't stop kids from "driving through Steak" to see who was there and what was going on.  Those were good, innocent times.

My boys know Steak 'n Shake like I do, but not in the same way.  By the time they were old enough for fast food the car hops were long gone and it was a dine-in restaurant.  We all continue to dine there to this day, and all look upon it favorably.  The place and food are unique, the shoestring fries, the thin, crispy-edged burgers, and chili mac keep us coming back.


So when I found this recipe for a copy cat version of the chili I couldn't wait to try it.  What an uproar it caused!  I like it just the way the recipe is written, though I will defer to my youngest son's observation that it isn't as "juicy" as the restaurant version.  I did think the taste was there, however, but he and his older brother disagreed on the taste, both of whom tackled the recipe themselves adding what they thought it needed to suit their remembrances of what it did/does/should taste like.

So give this a try and add what you like to suit your tastes.  As for me, it's perfect the way it is, and made even more so with my recent eBay score of a set of authentic chili bowls.  Does life get any better?!

Steak 'n Shake Chili

2 tablespoons oil 

1-1/2 pounds ground chuck 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can onion soup 

1 tablespoon chili powder 

2 teaspoons ground cumin 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

2 teaspoons cocoa 

2 cans kidney beans 

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 

1 cup cola 

Brown ground beef and salt in oil. Put soup in blender, blend for 1 minute. Add all to Crockpot. Drain beef and beans before adding to Crockpot. Let simmer on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 2 hours.

This post is linked to:

Your Recipe...My Kitchen

Tasty Tuesdays

Tuesdays at the Table

Delicious Dishes

Tasty Tuesday

Tuesday Night Supper Club

Made From Scratch Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday with Dr. Laura

Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday