Name: Slow Cooker Sage Butter Turkey Thighs
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 h
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage; 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling; 1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more for sprinkling; 2 turkey thighs

Slow Cooker Turkey Thighs with Sage Butter

November 9, 2015

Slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter are everything that you want from turkey-flavorful, moist, and fall-off-the-bone tender-without the worry of heating up the house or having to constantly check a thermometer.

What’s your Thanksgiving meat of choice? In our house, it is 100% undoubtedly ham. Ham, ham, and more ham. Specifically, ham cooked in cola, which honestly just seems so basic that I have never bothered to write about it. To be honest, Philip doesn’t even touch the turkey on Thanksgiving, but he’ll tear write into that big ol’ hunk of ham. The problem with turkey, in his opinion, is that it is (a) dry; and (b) not very flavorful.

That’s a problem with cooking a gigantic bird all in one piece in the oven. It’s the existential problem with turkey…that big domed breast of white meat dries out well before the dark meat thighs have reached a safe temperature. Now, we’re all about dark meat turkey, but that’s a whole lotta white meat to be wastin’ so that’s probably not the road we want to go down.

Here’s the thing, though…unless you are planning to have a Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving, you don’t really have to cook a whole bird. These slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter take all of 10 minutes of active prep time and, no lie, they’re going to be the most tender and flavorful turkey you’ve ever eaten in your life. And if you’re a white meat lover, don’t worry…I’ve done this with a turkey breast and it was just as delicious. You don’t even need a carving knife-just use a fork to pull the meat off of the bones…it won’t take much effort! Two of these slow cooker turkey thighs give us enough meat for two dinners for two, but you can easily multiply it to meet the needs of your family. No oven (or thermometer) required!

How will you cook your Thanksgiving turkey?

Yield: 4 servings

Slow Cooker Sage Butter Turkey Thighs

10 minPrep Time:

8 hrCook Time:

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling
1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more for sprinkling
2 turkey thighs

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir together the butter, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined.
Carefully loosen the skin of the turkey thighs, taking care not to pull it off. Use your fingers to spread half of the butter mixture under the skin of each turkey thigh. If not cooking the turkey thighs immediately, place them in a baking dish, cover with foil, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
To cook, sprinkle the tops of the turkey thighs with salt and pepper. Place into a slow cooker and set to low for 8-10 hours.
When ready to serve, remove the turkey thighs from the slow cooker and use a fork to remove the meat from the bones. Serve immediately or refrigerate for leftovers.

Notes

Cook time is inactive slow cooker time. Recipe can easily be multiplied to make as many turkey thighs as you wish. If you prefer white meat, substitute one turkey breast half for every two turkey thighs.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-turkey-thighs/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker sage butter turkey thighs!

Slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter are everything that you want from turkey-flavorful, moist, and fall-off-the-bone tender! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Club Sandwich Stromboli

November 6, 2015

This club sandwich stromboli is made with all the ingredients of a club sandwich, wrapped up in pizza dough and baked till melty and delicious!

I’m going to let you in on a secret…I don’t really like sandwiches all that much, cold sandwiches anyway. As you can imagine, this is a dilemma for someone who doesn’t usually have access to a microwave to heat up a lunch (packing lunch is not the point of this story, though). If I can assemble a sandwich fresh, i.e. with room temperature bread, then I’m good. I hate eating a sandwich on cold bread, though.

It’s a rare occasion that I order a cold sandwich in a restaurant, though. That restaurant staple, the club sandwich, just doesn’t really ring my bell. There is just something about cold lunch meat piled thickly on a sandwich that just doesn’t really do it for me (I go pretty light on the cold lunch meat and err on the side of cheese and vegetables when I’m making a cold sandwich for myself).

What I do like, though, is a good hot sandwich. Grilled cheese, Philly cheesesteak, hot ham and cheese….if it’s a hot sandwich, I’m probably going to be all about it.

Making a hot club sandwich would be simple enough, but I decided that turkey, ham, cheese, and bacon wrapped in pizza dough sounded pretty sublime. And you know what? I was right. This club sandwich stromboli is as simple as any sandwich can get and so tasty. I thought about making an avocado mayonnaise to dip it in, but ultimately I decided that honey mustard was perfect-quick, made with ingredients you probably have in the house, and, unlike avocado mayo, it lasts a few days without you having to worry about it turning brown.

So anyway…you need to make the club sandwich stromboli ASAP!

Yield: 4 servings

Club Sandwich Stromboli

10 minPrep Time:

15 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

1/2 pound pizza dough (I used the quick pizza dough recipe listed here
flour for rolling out dough
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 ounces thinly sliced deli turkey
4 ounces thinly sliced deli ham
4 sandwich slices cheese of your choice (I used Muenster)
1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
honey mustard dipping sauce for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (if you have a baking stone, preheat it in the oven as well).
Roll out the pizza dough into a 10-12 inch long rectangle on a floured surface. I like to use parchment paper for rolling it out, which will make it easier to transfer the rolled stromboli to the baking pan.
Sprinkle the bacon evenly onto the rectangle of pizza dough. Shingle the turkey, ham, and cheese onto the pizza dough.
Roll the pizza dough up into a tight cylinder then seal the ends. Brush with the egg wash and place on a baking sheet or onto the preheated baking stone. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove the stromboli from the oven. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting into slices. Serve with honey mustard dipping sauce.

Notes

Prep time does not include time to make pizza dough or cook bacon. You can buy pre-made pizza dough if you don't want to make your own.

https://chattavore.com/club-sandwich-stromboli/

Click here to print the recipe for club sandwich stromboli!

This club sandwich stromboli is made with all the ingredients of a club sandwich, wrapped up in pizza dough and baked till melty and delicious! | chattavore.com

Homemade Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

November 4, 2015

Homemade honey mustard dipping sauce is an incredibly quick and simple recipe that tastes just as good as store-bought varieties!

When I was a junior in high school, I ran for senior class president (those of you who know me personally will not be surprised by the fact that I have always been driven by a crazy perfectionist competitive side). I had zero chance of winning; the office was won by the girl who had been freshman, sophomore, and junior class president. I knew I wouldn’t win, but it was kind of (kind of being the operative term) a fun experience. Anyway, the only person who gave her a run for her money was a guy whose platform was chicken nuggets and honey mustard.

I.am.not.kidding.

He was a bit of a jokester (that’s a bit of an understatement) and of course there was nothing that he could actually do about the cafeteria food, but apparently he was a big fan of the chicken nuggets and honey mustard that they served, I don’t know, maybe one day a week (I have no idea, as I lived off of the salad/nacho/baked potato bar when I wasn’t eating chips and pink icing cookies for lunch). His entire platform was more chicken nugget and honey mustard days in the cafeteria. And while I don’t think that he came close to winning, he was the clear runner-up.

For a long time, I ordered chicken tenders in just about every restaurant that I went to. Honestly, I wasn’t the typical chicken tenders and fries orderer. This was in my late teens and early twenties and I loved a variety of foods, but I wanted honey mustard. Not just any honey mustard, either. I always felt completely ripped off when I asked for honey mustard and got some cheap non-creamy variety.

I was obsessed. I would cook specific foods just for the opportunity to dip them into honey mustard. My freshman year of college, I taught my roommates how to fry chicken tenders, dredged in bread crumbs and dipped into Naturally Fresh honey mustard, which I’m pretty sure is the brand that Applebee’s used (that was my favorite).

Eventually, I needed honey mustard and didn’t have any. What I did have, though, was: honey, mustard, and mayonnaise. A little whisking and voila: honey mustard. Honestly, I think it’s even a little better than the better store-bought varieties of honey mustard that you can get next to the bagged salads at the grocery store. This homemade honey mustard is great for dipping chicken or French fries into, but it’s also a perfect sandwich spread!

Have you ever had homemade honey mustard? It’s pretty life changing!

Yield: about 3/4 cup

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

5 minPrep Time:

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Ingredients

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup Dijon or spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in the refrigerator in a covered container or jar for up to a three days.

Notes

It is very easy to adapt this recipe to fit any quantity that you need! Just use 2 parts mayonnaise, 2 parts mustard, and 1 part honey and scale the paprika to fit the amount.

https://chattavore.com/homemade-honey-mustard-dipping-sauce/

Click here to print the recipe for honey mustard dipping sauce!

This honey mustard dipping sauce is quick and simple to make and just as delicious - if not more delicious than - any store bought honey mustard! | chattavore.com

The Camp House – Downtown Chattanooga

November 2, 2015

The Camp House is a coffee shop in Downtown Chattanooga that serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays and brunch on Saturdays.

I’m not really sure why, but for some reason I have a tendency to neglect coffee shops here on the ol’ blog. It’s not that I have anything against them (I definitely don’t), it’s just that for some reason I don’t really think about them. This week, I realized that and added several local coffee shops to the “must try” list.

After examining a few menus we decided to go to The Camp House down on MLK. We’ve been to The Camp House when it was in its previous location on Main, but (1) we’d never eaten there; and (2) we’d ever been to the new (well, newER) location. They have a pretty extensive menu, serving breakfast, lunch, and, on Saturdays, brunch. I’m going to be honest, I did not realize that they only serve brunch on Saturday and I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have the items on the lunch menu I checked out (because they had several things that sounded pretty fantastic). Oh well. I sucked it up and ordered brunch with the understanding that we’ll have to go back on a week day for lunch soon (look for an update to this post).

The first thing that you notice about The Camp House is that it is really a massive space. Not surprising, as it doubles on Sundays as a chapel for Mission Chattanooga. There are cozy sofas as well as dining tables and lots of people hanging out with laptops. There is also a very large outdoor seating area. The decor is dark and muted with lots of wood, cool chandeliers, and little potted succulents on the tables.

Specials for the day were a pumpkin waffle or French toast. I debated the migas (eggs, chorizo, corn chips, salsa) and the meat and cheese waffle (melted Gruyere, strawberry jam, ham, and honey) but eventually settled on the potato cakes (potato cakes, tomato, sour cream, onions, chorizo and a fried egg). I was a little concerned because I am not always a big fan of chorizo (it can be a little overpoweringly spicy for me) but I needn’t have worried because, while it was spicy, it was not mouth-searing. It was very flavorful. The potato cakes were extremely brown and crispy, the tomatoes and sour cream a cool complement to the sausage and potatoes. The egg was perfectly over-easy with a gorgeous runny orange yolk. I decided to skip coffee in favor of water.

Philip wanted a waffle and asked for the classic waffle (with just butter and syrup) but instead he was served a Camp House waffle (granola, yogurt, strawberries, pears, and date syrup). It didn’t have date syrup on it, though…it had honey on it. And it was delicious. The vanilla flavor in the waffle was very strong and the fruit, honey, yogurt, and granola all melded together perfectly. He also ordered a scrambled egg, which was just a pretty basic folded egg. He decided to order a chai latte. The latte had a very strong cinnamon and ginger flavor (the ginger burned!) and was nice and hot (they prepped it while we waited at the counter).

Like I said, we’ll be going back as soon as we get the chance to try out their lunch menu, which is served weekdays from 11-6. The food we were served today was fresh and tasty and definitely not the “usual” brunch (at least mine wasn’t, and I did think that Philip’s waffle was pretty unique). The atmosphere is nice and mellow and relaxing as well. If you are downtown and looking for a casual coffee shop atmosphere for breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner, The Camp House is a great option!

The Camp House is located at 149 East Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402. They are open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. with breakfast served 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and lunch served 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and for brunch Saturday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. You can call them at 423-702-8081. You can also check out their website, thecamphouse.com and like The Camp House on Facebook. You can also follow @TheCampHouse on Twitter and on Instagram.

Steak Taco Bowl with Creamy Sauce

October 30, 2015

With steak, onions, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and cheese, this steak taco bowl is a simple, healthy, and delicious dinner! It’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Let me tell you a story. It’s a story about a lady whose eating habits caught up with her. If you guessed that the lady was me…you guessed correctly. Here’s how it happened.

To be perfectly honest with you, for as long as I was a classroom teacher I never really worried one second about my weight. I mean, sure…there was the typical female “Ugh, I’m blowing up like a balloon” even though I wasn’t (I really hate that about myself sometimes). My clothes still fit, though, so I continued to do my thing, eating pretty much whatever I wanted, working out 3 or 4 times a week, and playing with preschoolers all day. You really don’t realize how many calories you burn playing with preschoolers…till you don’t spend all day playing with preschoolers any more.

When I changed jobs, it seemed like I gained ten pounds overnight (it wasn’t ten pounds, and it wasn’t overnight, but the rate at which I gained enough weight to have to buy new pants scared me…I feared that if I didn’t reverse the trend I’d be in trouble in a few years). My new job involves a lot of driving and sitting. It does not involve a lot of walking. I started working out hardcore, five days a week. I parked as far from school doors as possible. I bought a FitBit. Nothing worked…the scale didn’t budge.

That’s when I had to admit it: the fact that I changed my activity level and didn’t change my eating habits was the culprit. I took a hard look at what I was eating and realized that my diet was very heavy on carbs and very light on protein. Now, I am decidedly not someone who is ever going to subscribe to an eating plan that forces me to cut out any food group (unless there’s a medical reason, which, at the moment, there isn’t), but I realized that my diet was way out of balance, particularly since my carbs were coming overwhelmingly from grains and not from fruits and vegetables.

So…I’ve started thinking about what I can eat instead of bread and tortillas and crackers. I still eat those things, of course, but a lot less of them than I used to. Lucky for me, I can make dinners like this steak taco bowl. I’ve loved a good steak taco since I used to order them from the drive-thru at Taco Bell when I was in high school. That was a long time ago, and this is at least 100% more delicious and wholesome than that steak taco.

This is a riff on the “plato Roc” that’s served at Delia’s and Taco Roc. At Delia’s, it’s made with meat, grilled peppers and onions, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. At Taco Roc, though, it has zucchini and mushrooms in it too, making it even more filling and delicious. I decided to skip the lettuce and focus on the other vegetables instead. This steak taco bowl is light on carbs, but heavy on flavor!

Yield: 4 servings

Steak Taco Bowl

30 minPrep Time:

15 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

For the chipotle cream

1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
juice of 1/2 lime
salt to taste

For the bowl

1-1 1/2 pounds flank steak, skirt steak, or sirloin tip steak
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered
2 medium zucchini, scrubbed clean and cut into 1-inch diced
salt to taste
1 avocado, seeded and diced
4 tablespoons crumbled queso fresco (about 2 ounces)

Instructions

Trim the fat from the edges of the steak. Place on a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, chipotle powder, and lime juice. Taste and salt to taste.
Remove the steak from the freezer and slice against the grain as thinly as possible. Run the knife through the meat on the cutting board several times to chop the meat into very small pieces. Place the meat in a bowl and season with salt and oregano.
In a large (12-inch) skillet, preheat one tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat in an even layer and cook without stirring until brown and beginning to form a crust. Stir and continue to cook until the meat is very brown with some crisp, dark edges. Remove to a clean bowl and wipe out the skillet.
Preheat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pan and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the peppers and cook until the onions and peppers are almost tender. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until softened. Season with salt to taste.
Add the meat back to the pan. Stir and cook until heated through. Divide among 4 bowls and top with the avocado, crumbled queso fresco, and 1 tablespoon each of the chipotle cream.

Notes

The prep time includes inactive prep to freeze the meat.

https://chattavore.com/steak-taco-bowl/

Click here to print the recipe for steak taco bowls!

This steak taco bowl is full of vegetables and flavor but not starchy carbs! | chattavore.com

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