Name: Slow Cooker Chicken and Artichoke Melts
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 h 5 min
Yield: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds) - trimmed; salt and pepper; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 medium onion - thinly sliced; 1 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts - thawed OR 1 can quartered artichoke hearts - well drained; 4 hoagie rolls - split; mayonnaise and/or mustard (optional); 4 slices Provolone cheese

Café Roma (Cleveland, Tennessee)

January 6, 2016

Café Roma is a Cleveland, Tennessee favorite, and after my braised pork shoulder dish…I understand why! It’s a great Italian option for lunch or dinner.

So, for those of you who were wondering after you read my post about Yesterday’s at Willie’s, we ended back at Scott’s Furniture in Cleveland to buy the first sofa that we liked. Go figure. I know you guys are very interested in my personal life. It arrives today. It’s the little things, you know.

Anyway, going to purchase our new sofa meant that we needed to go back to Cleveland, so we decided to eat at another restaurant up there. It’s kind of a trek for us, so we don’t get a lot of opportunities to go up there unless we plan it out. We were torn between two places that were both pretty close to the furniture store (and both pretty highly rated on Yelp!), Café Roma and Taco Shack. Since I hadn’t done a post about an Italian restaurant in a good long time, we decided to go with Café Roma.

Café Roma is located in downtown Cleveland, very close to the courthouse and to Lee University. Unlike downtown Chattanooga, downtown Cleveland offers free two-hour parking on the street. I think I’ll move there (not really, but how nice!). We arrived around 1 p.m. and there were only a couple of other tables occupied, so we were seated immediately. Our server, Whitney, filled our water glasses and brought Philip a drink menu while we perused the lunch menu. They had a fairly small beer selection, but Philip decided on the Rogue Hazelnut brown ale and was very happy with it. I was intrigued by several of their cocktails but didn’t want to pay $8 or $9.

The night before we went, we watched In Defense of Food, a PBS documentary based on Michael Pollan‘s book by the same name (which you should read if you have not) (⬅️affiliate link). In the documentary, Pollan cut up crusty bread and piled it with fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and basil, then drizzled it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This led to Philip and me agreeing that we needed to order the caprese-fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic reduction-from the antipasti menu. It was served to us with a couple of pieces of what Whitney referred to as their house bread, which was pretty focaccia-ish. The only minor issue that I had with the caprese was that the tomato really wasn’t the greatest, but that’s what you get when you order something with fresh tomatoes in December. I can accept that, especially since with the other ingredients you didn’t really notice that it was a winter tomato. I just love caprese. I resolve to make more caprese in 2016. Amen and amen.

As I was perusing Yelp!, I read the menu for Café Roma and knew instinctively what I would order: braised pork shoulder. The braised pork shoulder consisted of chunks of braised pork shoulder (you weren’t expecting that, were you?), butternut squash, roasted red pepper, spinach, and linguine in a sauce consisting of some of the braising liquid and a brown butter sage sauce. And it.was.wonderful. The pork was amazingly tender and seasoned beautifully, the butternut squash was cooked well, and the roasted red peppers were actually roasted (I hate when you get a roasted red pepper that still has crunch to it). I would have liked to have tasted the sage a little more in the sauce, but it was still delicious, if a bit messy. That was only because my sorry self cannot twirl noodles for peanuts, so I ended up splashing broth all over the paper tablecloth like a two-year-old was sitting there. Oops. There was also a wedge of fresh focaccia served with the pasta.

Philip decided to go with the penne Bolognese, described as “penne pasta with a traditional rich meat sauce”. Bolognese sauce is traditionally a tomato sauce with meat (sometimes two or three types of meat) long-simmered with cream or milk added at the end. This sauce was more of an orange sauce than a red sauce, so it definitely had dairy added. It was a little bit spicy (probably red pepper) and didn’t have much in the way of chunks aside from the meat. Philip did say that he would have liked for it to have been a bit more meaty, but it was very good, very flavorful.

The prices are a bit higher for their dinner menu, but the lunch menu is very reasonably priced, with entrees and sandwiches ranging from $8.25 to $9.50 (they have a small selection of “dinner entrees” available for lunch priced from $12 to $19). Our total for Philip’s beer, the caprese ($8), my braised pork shoulder ($9.25), and Philip’s penne bolognese ($8.25) was $32.24. The atmosphere was very nice, with white tablecloths, fresh flowers on each table, and low lighting (and mouthwash in a St. Germain bottle in the ladies’ room-again, it’s the little things! Don’t worry, it had a pour spout and a stack of Dixie cups.) and Whitney was friendly and attentive. We enjoyed Café Roma very much and definitely recommend it for tasty Italian food!

Café Roma is located at 220 North Ocoee Street, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37311. They are open for lunch Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday-Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can call them at 423-339-1488. You can read more about Café Roma on their website, http://caferomatn.com/. You can also like Café Roma on Facebook.

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission. This does not affect the price to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Artichoke Melts

January 4, 2016

Slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts are so simple but incredibly gooey, cheesy, and tasty. You can throw this meal in the slow cooker in minutes!

Really, the slow cooker is a useful appliance all year long, because it is so handy when you don’t want to heat your whole house up in the summer by turning on your oven. The thing is, winter is when I really crave the types of foods that you prepare in the slow cooker…foods like soups, chilis, and roasts. I’ve been a little bit obsessed with my slow cooker lately, but that’s just because (a) I recently got an Instant Pot (⬅️affiliate link) and I can’t stop using it to cook all the things (I’ll review it for you all eventually); and (b) because I’ve been working on an article for WHISK Magazine about slow cooking. It’s definitely gotten my slow cooker creative juices flowing.

There was a time when I thought that you could pretty much just throw whatever in the slow cooker, turn it on, and walk away. No matter how long you left it, it would be perfectly falling apart when you came back to it. I learned a couple of things. First of all, some things will burn in the slow cooker; baked goods are a good example-they need to be watched closely. Second, chicken breasts are not a super slow cooker friendly food. The fat content is so low that they will dry out if you overcook them by 1.2 seconds. Third? If you put vegetables in the slow cooker and leave them all day, there’s a good chance that they will be straight-up mush by the end of the day.

My advice to you? Use chicken thighs instead. They have more fat, so they are far less likely to dry out. And while, contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to add liquid to your slow cooker when cooking meat, it will create a juicy sauce that will help to keep your chicken from drying out. Adding delicate vegetables toward the end of cooking will keep them from completely disintegrating. You could add the cheese in this dish to the slow cooker and mix it all up with the chicken and vegetables, but I prefer the uniformness of the cheese melted over the top of the chicken and artichoke sandwich.

What’s your favorite slow cooker tip?

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, read my disclosures.

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Slow Cooker Chicken and Artichoke Melts

15 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 5 Cook Time:

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Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds) - trimmed
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion - thinly sliced
1 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts - thawed OR 1 can quartered artichoke hearts - well drained
4 hoagie rolls - split
mayonnaise and/or mustard (optional)
4 slices Provolone cheese

Instructions

Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Place into the slow cooker and sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Place the onions and the artichoke hearts into the slow cooker. Cover and continue to cook on low for another two hours.
Turn off the slow cooker and use two forks to shred the chicken.
Turn on the broiler. Place the split hoagie rolls onto a baking sheet and spread with mayo and/or mustard if desired. Divide the chicken among the rolls and top each with a slice of Provolone (I break the cheese slices in half to get better coverage).
Melt the cheese under the broiler. Top with the top half of the hoagie roll and serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-chicken-and-artichoke-melts/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts!

Slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts are so simple but incredibly gooey, cheesy, and tasty! | recipe from chattavore.com

Yesterday’s at Willie’s Diner

December 31, 2015

Yesterday’s at Willie’s Diner serves good food at good prices in Cleveland, Tennessee, in the former location of Jenkin’s Deli.

Buying new furniture is kind of a drag, y’all. I mean. I like the idea of getting new furniture, I just want it to magically appear in my living room without me having to sit on fifty different sofas, measure, figure out how everything will fit in my house, and figure out what to do with the old furniture.

You may be wondering what furniture shopping has to do with a restaurant post. Well, we ended up at Scott’s Furniture in Cleveland (which was a good call…it’s looking like we’ll be purchasing our furniture from them). Since we rarely get up there and therefore rarely get a chance to eat at the many Cleveland restaurants we need to try (I have a pretty detailed list), we decided to have lunch while we were up there.

We basically decided to eat at the first place on the list that we saw while driving, since we’re pretty unfamiliar with the Cleveland area. The first place we saw? Yesterday’s at Willie’s Diner. Yesterday’s at Willie’s is located in the former Jenkins Deli location on Mouse Creek Road (just past the intersection at Keith Street). Jenkins has moved to a new location (well, not so new…it’s been a while) on Spring Creek Boulevard…I need to visit there sometime to check out their new location.

It wasn’t very crowded, as we went after the typical “lunch” time. We were quickly seated by a friendly server. One look at the menu clued us in to the nature of the restaurant. The front of the menu states that Yesterday’s at Willie’s is owned by a couple with the last name Jenkins…so I am pretty sure that the establishment did not change ownership. There were a handful of appetizers, soups, salads, some barbecue entrees, several sandwiches, and a few entrees. The menu is not the same as Jenkins’ menu-it is somewhat more limited-but I did see some Jenkins favorites, such as the chicken salad and the deli burger.

And…that’s exactly what we ordered. Honestly, if I’d remembered that when we went to Jenkins that I ordered exactly the same thing, I would have gotten something different, but I didn’t think to check (and I was almost certain that I had ordered the burger last time). I got the half chicken salad sandwich with the fresh, house made potato chips. The chicken sandwich is a good portion with one slice of grilled Texas toast and a generous (but not outrageous) portion of chicken salad. The chicken salad is made with shredded chicken, which is how I like it. It has some herbs, celery, and plenty of garlic, and, while I would not say it is dripping with mayo, it’s definitely not dry. The chips are pretty much amazing…thick but not too thick, very crispy, and sprinkled with a perfect portion of seasoned salt.

And Philip, well, he got the burger. We can be a little predictable at times. He decided to order the burger with cheddar cheese and steak fries on the side (you can order any side that you like, with an additional charge for onion rings or a baked potato). The burger here is very good…a decent size (not too big, not too small) and cooked very well. The bun is griddled so that it’s warm with very crispy edges, just how I like it. It was served with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, mayo, and mustard, and had just the right amount of everything. It held together well. The steak fries were just standard frozen steak fries.

At $5.99 for my half sandwich and chips, $9.45 for Philip’s burger and fries (that includes an additional $.50 for the cheese), and two waters, our total was just under $17 pre-tip…not a bad price, I’d say. Our server, Rachel, was very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere here is pretty standard “tavern” atmosphere…dark wood, lots of pictures and signs hanging on the wall, and lots of graffiti where patrons have signed the walls over the years. We would definitely go back.

Yesterday’s at Willie’s Diner is located at 88 Mouse Creek Road NW, Cleveland, TN 37312. They are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed Sunday). You can call them at (423) 790-5346. They do not have a website, but you can like Yesterday’s at Willie’s on Facebook.

Black-Eyed Pea Dip

December 30, 2015

Black-eyed pea dip is full of taco flavor, cheese, and creamy sour cream. It’s sure to bring you luck in this New Year!

I could use some luck in the new year! How about you? I don’t know if this is a Southern thing or not, but around here, people say that if you want to have good luck in the new year you should eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day.

The truth is that I’ve never eaten black-eyed peas. Or collard greens. I mean, I’ve tasted them but never eaten a whole serving of either. For some reason, neither appeals to me. Actually, I can tell you the reason. I don’t care for the smell of collard greens and I don’t care for the texture of black-eyed peas (too mushy).

When I started dreaming up a black-eyed pea dip, I spent a good bit of time reading other people’s recipes. It seems like they were more like, um, dippable salads…black-eyed peas and chunks of other vegetables (onions, jalapeño, etc.) just stirred together. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted. Instead, I wanted something more like a cheesy refried bean dip, so that’s just what I did. Onions, jalapeño, garlic, black-eyed peas, Ro*Tel, cheese, sour cream. The mushy texture of the black-eyed peas actually worked perfectly here, and if you wanted you could even stir in some cooked (and well-drained) collard greens.

It looks like this year I’m not going to be worried about my luck because I’ve found a way to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. I can’t say that I’ve ever had a particularly unlucky year, but maybe this will bring untold luck my way (as a blogger I’ll take all the luck I can get). What kind of luck could you use in 2016? Maybe this good luck black-eyed pea dip will help!

Yield: About 3 cups of dip

Good Luck Black-Eyed Pea Dip

10 minPrep Time:

30 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon bacon drippings or butter
1 small onion, diced
1/2-1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups or 1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (such as Ro*Tel), drained
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup sour cream
tortilla chips, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium skillet, heat the bacon fat or butter over medium heat.
Cook the onion and the jalapeño until they soften, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add the black-eyed peas, the diced tomatoes and chilies, and the chili powder to the pan. Cook until heated through. If the black-eyed peas do not break down enough, use a potato masher to mash the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a 1-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. If desired, turn on the broiler to brown the top.
Remove the dip from the oven and dollop with the sour cream. Spread the sour cream over the top and serve the dip hot with tortilla chips.

https://chattavore.com/black-eyed-pea-dip/

Click here to print the recipe for black-eyed pea dip!

Good luck black-eyed pea dip is full of taco flavor, cheese, and creamy sour cream. It's sure to bring you luck in this New Year! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Bacon Jam Blue Cheese Swirls

December 28, 2015

Blue cheese and bacon jam swirls look fancy but they are SO easy to make…and unbelievably tasty!

Disclosure: I was given a wedge of Sequatchie Cove Creamery’s Shakerag Blue Cheese to create this recipe. No other compensation was provided and, as always, all opinions are my own. This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. The cost to you is not affected.

I am not a celebrator of New Year’s Eve. It’s not that I have a problem with celebrations, and I will certainly use New Year’s Eve as an excuse to eat snacks because I would rather have snacks than a meal any. day. I might even stay up late to watch the ball drop. I’ll definitely grumble about the fact that my neighbors will be shooting fireworks until 1 a.m. and scaring my cat.

My problem with New Year’s Eve is that there is no way on this earth that I could possibly survive being out that late on any night ever. The last time that I was out past 10 p.m. I barely stayed awake. It was ugly and not to be repeated if avoidable. Staying out late does not equal fun for me. Daytime New Year’s celebrations complete with sparkling grape juice are more my speed.

When Dre from Sequatchie Cove contacted me to see if I was interested in getting some cheese to create some recipes for them, I didn’t have to give it a second thought. I love Sequatchie Cove…their meats, their vegetables, and their cheeses. I don’t get very many opportunities to go to Main Street Farmers Market these days but was happy to make a little excursion to pick up this beautiful wedge of Shakerag blue cheese. There are not a lot of purveyors making cheese locally around here so Sequatchie Cove Creamery’s cheese is special.

This blue is beautiful, wrapped in local fig leaves soaked in Chattanooga Whiskey and woven through with the telltale veins of blue that you obviously would expect from a wedge of blue cheese. The smell is strong and pungent, belying the mild (but not too much so) flavor. It tastes like a blue but it’s not overwhelming. It’s a little bit sweet and perfectly salty.

When I was trying to decide what to make with my Shakerag blue cheese, I knew that I wanted to make a snack or appetizer that would be perfect for a New Year’s Eve celebration. I remembered that I had some bacon jam that I had just made for WHISK Magazine. Sweet and tangy bacon jam with salty and tangy blue cheese? Perfection. How could I pair the two??? Palmiers or puff pastry swirls. Blue cheese and bacon jam swirls….yessssss. I’ll be honest, I started off making palmiers but got lazy on the second piece of puff pastry and switched to making swirls because they were easier to cut. Whether you make blue cheese and bacon jam palmiers or blue cheese and bacon jam swirls, they’re beautiful and delicious. And perfect for New Year’s Eve…or Tuesday night, which is when we ate them.

Yield: 30-40 swirls

Blue Cheese and Bacon Jam Palmiers

10 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

1 package (2 pieces) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup bacon jam (see notes)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Sequatchie Cove Creamery's Shakerag)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unroll one sheet of the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.
Spread the puff pastry with two tablespoons of the bacon jam and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the crumbled blue cheese.
Roll the puff pastry into a tube for swirls, or roll each side to the center for palmiers. If you want, you can chill the dough at this point for easier cutting, but I didn't bother.
Using a serrated knife, cut the pastry into 1/4-inch slices. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.
Bake the swirls/palmiers until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Bacon jam is easy to make. Because I created my recipe for WHISK Magazine, I cannot post it here yet, but I adapted my recipe from this one on Cravings of a Lunatic . If you don't want to make it, you can purchase bacon jam in some grocery stores or on Amazon. I like Skillet Bacon Spread (<--affiliate link).

https://chattavore.com/blue-cheese-bacon-jam-swirls/

Click here to print the recipe for blue cheese and bacon jam swirls!

Blue cheese and bacon jam swirls are a perfect appetizer or snack for a party...or just for a Tuesday! Sponsored by Sequatchie Cove Creamery | Recipe from Chattavore.com

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