Grilled Green Beans

I have to thank my sister-in-law Brandy for introducing me to cooking green beans this way a couple of years ago.  There really isn't much of a recipe...she told me "green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, and oil"...Let me tell you, these green beans are so unbelievably delicious I constantly tell Timothy that I really could eat just a whole entire plate of them.  I really could.  Sorry for all you ham hock & onion, cook to death green bean lovers out there (I still love those by the way) but these are stinking amazing.  And I don't use that word lightly.  Try it, I swear I'll make a believer out of you!

The best green beans I have found are the frozen ones from Sam's Club.  They are whole, long, green beans and are not cut.  You can use cut frozen green beans, those work just fine.  But these are skinny and long and the ends char up really well....So take those beautiful frozen green beans and mix in all the rest of the stuff.  I love garlic so I put in 2 cloves, plenty of salt, and pepper.  If you put too much on, no big deal, it really flavors the green beans and most of it ends up in the bottom of the pan.

Spread them out on a pan, pop them into the oven, and let the magic happen...Mmmmmmmmm, check those out!  There's a few beans in there that have charred edges, but that's the best part.  I usually cook them even further than this, but Timothy was starving, so I pulled them out a little ahead of time.  Still delicious, crispy, flavorful...just plain good!

Grilled Green Beans
printable recipe

Ingredients:
2-3 cups frozen green beans
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
kosher salt
cracked black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Drizzle the green beans with enough oil just to coat and give them a little shine. Add the garlic and sprinkle the salt and pepper. I toss with my fingers to coat all the green beans. Place on an ungreased pan (this is where the stoneware comes in handy, but a cookie sheet will do too.) Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until green beans have crisped up on the edges and start to wrinkle. You may want to use tongs to turn them halfway through.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

A couple of years ago I wrote on a cooking blog called Yum in my Tum with my best friend Lori.  It was a great place for us to store our recipes and try out new things.  Plus I like to think I'm more of the down-home cook and she’s really adventurous when it comes to food, trying all different flavors and textures.  She’s a sushi lover at heart (no really, she is…check out her blog www.mamaneedssushi.com) and I’d rather have steak and mashed potatoes.  But the blog was a great way for us to mesh our different culinary favorites.  Then she got busy with her photography and design business (www.loricrockett.com and by the way, she’s amazing) and I got busy with coaching and it sort of fizzled out…But she encouraged me to continue blogging, so I started this little blog, and the rest is history! 

One of my favorite recipes I wrote on that blog was for Garlic Cheddar Biscuits, very similar to a fish lovers chain restaurant…you all know who I’m talking about!  I had been making a simple cheddar biscuit recipe for years but I swear the addition of the cold butter in this one really put it over the edge.  Well fast forward to last week, when I made the homemade baking mix.  I decided to try these biscuits again using my own mix in the recipe, and Oh. My. Word.  Well, I take that back, words really can’t describe these.  They tasted so so close to the deliciousness you get in the restaurant and you really can whip them up in no time!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
printable recipe
makes 8-10 biscuits

Ingredients:
Biscuits:
2-1/2 cups baking mix
4 Tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup cold milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Glaze:
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400°.  Combine baking mix and cold butter with a fork or pastry cutter.  Don’t overmix.  You still want to have small bits of butter in your dry mix. 
2.  Add cheese, milk, and garlic powder.  Mix until combined, but again, don’t overmix. 
3.  Drop onto cookie sheet.  (I use stoneware for this and don’t grease it, but if using a regular cookie sheet, you may want to).  Bake for 15 minutes or until they are lightly brown. 
4.  Mix together your butter glaze and brush on immediately after taking out of the oven.

Homemade Baking Mix

I've been really trying to get back into the swing of things blogging and cooking.  I've even started a little redesign process for this blog that I hope will freshen things up a bit!  I went on a bit of a cooking spree last week and was able to write 5 recipes and take photos of all of them.  Woo hoo!

Two weeks ago, we had the old standby of breakfast for dinner and I made biscuits and gravy.  I used up the last of my Bisquick mix and put it on my shopping list that I needed to buy another box.  I use baking mix for a lot of my quick dinner needs.  I have always wanted to make my own however, because with grocery prices increasing, I knew that this was one area I could cut back.  I have been mixing up and rolling out biscuits with the store bought baking mix for a long time now instead of using the canned biscuits, and let me tell you...it is SO worth the extra 5 minutes, I promise!  I still felt though that there was no reason that I couldn't make the mix on my own.  I looked up a lot of recipes for homemade baking mix and most of them contained shortening.  I'm not a huge fan of shortening, because I think it lacks flavor...butter is my weakness.  It adds so much more of a depth of flavor...and if I am going to add inches to these thighs, it better be because of some flavor!  I found a recipe over at allrecipes.com and adapted it a bit and I think this mix is going to be something that I end up making regularly and keeping in my fridge for a very long time!  I have also listed some extra recipes below that are typical "back of the box" type recipes.  Enjoy!

Homemade Baking Mix
Printable Recipe
Yields: about 36 drop biscuits

Ingredients:

5 cups flour

1/4 cup baking powder

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup cold butter

Directions:

1.  Mix together all dry ingredients.  Use a food processor to "cut" in the butter until the butter is well mixed in the dry ingredients.  If you use a pastry cutter, this will take longer but you want the butter to be mixed in well. 

2.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or in the freezer for longer. 

Adapted from All Recipes

Biscuits

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups baking mix

2/3 cup milk

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 450°.  Stir ingredients until soft dough forms. 

2.  Turn onto surface dusted Bisquick mix.  Knead 10 times.  Roll dough 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with a biscuit cutter.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
3.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 cups baking mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Directions:
1.  Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375°.  Grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil, or shortening.
2.  Stir all ingredients until blended.  Pour by about 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle.
3.  Cook until bubbles appear and edges are dry.  Flip; cook until golden.